


All Hallow's Eve - An NRC Event

by artificialdevil



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Crossdressing, Crushes, Friendship, Gen, Halloween, Male Yuu | Player (Twisted-Wonderland), Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, School Dances, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27220993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artificialdevil/pseuds/artificialdevil
Summary: Halloween in Twisted Wonderland can be a pretty big deal. And at Night Raven College, between having a haunted house-esque "Test of Courage" and an evening party of dancing with monsters, it's sure to be fun!
Relationships: Yuu | Player (Twisted-Wonderland) & Everyone
Comments: 30
Kudos: 108





	1. This Is Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was originally just going to be the haunted house/test of courage bit, but I got super carried away and now it's way longer.
> 
> In order to make this work, I am pretty much completely ignoring the canon timeline. Considering that the Magift Tournament of Chapter 2 occurs during October, there are a lot of characters that the Ramshackle Squad wouldn't be acquainted with yet and that's boring (lol). So instead, this fic assumes that everyone has met everyone and everybody has gone through their respective character arcs while still keeping everyone in the same grade as they are in canon.
> 
> Anything happening in the Scary Monsters event story is also not taken into account, aside from the costumes.
> 
> Whether or not any character has a crush on Yuu or he has a crush on them is left intentionally ambiguous.

Throughout October, the atmosphere at Night Raven College had become gradually more festive. Halloween was a relatively minor affair where Yuu was from, but he'd heard about how some places celebrated it like this. According to Trein, it was something akin to a holy day for magic users in Twisted Wonderland. The first year prefect could have done without the long rundown of the origins of the holiday and how the present-day customs differed and why. But then he supposed that it was the same with most holidays in his world as well.

"The ghosts are all in a really good mood lately," Yuu said at lunch one day early in the month.

"Don't put it so nicely!" Grim objected loudly. "They're playing lots of pranks and they're being really loud!"

"I've wondered this for a while, but are you two really okay living there?" Ace asked, sounding more awed than concerned.

"The ghosts are the least of the problems in that building," Yuu replied with a shrug. He was more concerned with the leaky roof, the rusty nails sticking out everywhere, the broken furniture, and the fact that he'd had to get a part time job so that he could start paying for repairs little by little. The cleaning was fine but not even being able to get help with the repairs? What the heck, Crowley?

"If you say that, it's just more concerning you know?" Ace sighed, now sounding more exasperated than anything else.

"If you're so concerned, help me pay for the repairs," the Ramshackle prefect shot back with a wry grin.

"Not a chance." The expected response.

"Why did you even say anything then?" Grim asked, getting a nod in agreement from Deuce.

The topic drifted a bit - which classes were annoying, how club activities were going, a brief debate about whether or not Crewel's hair was natural - before Yuu finally brought up something that had been on his mind.

"The second years all seem really busy," he pointed out. "They keep disappearing. Not even just one or two classes, but like all of them. Is something up?"

"Oh, that," Deuce replied. "One of our senpai told me that every year the second years use the old school building to create a sort of "test of courage" for the first year students on Halloween."

Ah, now that was familiar territory. Though Yuu was used to doing his tests of courage during the summer season.

"The third years don't participate?" he asked.

"I'm not really sure," Deuce admitted. "You can always try asking one of them?"

Yuu had become acquainted with a lot of students from all grades since coming to Night Raven College, but out of all of the third years he always found Cater and Trey to be the most approachable. Possibly just because he was over at their dorm so much to see Ace and Deuce that the whole of Heartslabyul had more or less adopted the young prefect as one of their own.

When he asked about third years regarding the test of courage, Cater laughed, muffled with his hand as he'd had food in his mouth.

"That was fun last year~" he declared after swallowing. "I still have pics on my MagiCam. Just search #testofcourage on my account."

That wasn't helpful as Yuu still didn't have a phone in this world, and he was already working more shifts than he wanted to be without having a phone bill.

"It was pretty funny at points," Trey agreed. "Cater, if you find that picture of Riddle again, send it to me."

 _"Trey-kun!"_ Cater affected a scandalized tone without bothering to try to keep a straight face. "You can't possibly mean the one he ordered me to delete, right~?"

"So, do the third years participate?" Yuu prompted, trying to get back on topic.

"Ah, not really," Trey replied. "It's mostly just to give the second years something fun to do, make good school life memories and all. Going through it is sort of a rite of passage for first year students too."

"Third years can go in if they want though!" Cater chimed in. "If you ask real cutely and act all scared, I bet you could get somebody to go in with you, easy~"

"I live with ghosts," Yuu pointed out, monotonously.

"Well, we do have some... uh, _"unique"_ second years this year," Trey said, clearly having struggled to find a diplomatic descriptor.

After letting that sink in for a minute, Ace spoke up.

"I mean, it's not gonna be dangerous at all!" he said. "It's a school event, so there's supervision and guidelines and... right?"

Both third years took a moment to think, prompting Ace to follow up with, "Okay, this is taking an awfully long time!"

"I'm just trying to think of how often we actually got permission before implementing something," Trey told him.

"Not a lot," Cater replied. "They didn't check up on us a lot either."

"Clearly, this can only go well," Yuu said, feeling very tired despite Halloween still being a few weeks away.

“Hey, don’t worry~!” Cater assured him. “It’s not like anybody’s ever died during this event! Not on record, anyway.”

“They could have done without that last bit, Cater,” Trey scolded lightly before addressing the first years again. “At the very least, no one got hurt last year or the year before. Besides, the first years who do it get to go to the party in the evening with the second and third years.”

“The party?” Deuce asked. “I thought first years weren’t allowed to go to it.”

“Not by default, but you get a medal for finishing the test of courage,” Trey explained. “It serves as a kind of pass for first years.”

“I haven’t really heard a lot about it,” Yuu admitted. “What kind of party is it?”

“It's pretty normal for a Halloween party,” Cater said, tilting his chair back a bit. “Everybody wears costumes, there’s lots of food, lots of music, we get to stay up all night, and there’s this game where a lot of people take turns dancing with somebody.”

“What’s the point in two guys dancing together though?” Ace asked.

“Ace-chan, you would be so much cuter if you knew when to not speak,” Cater said with a heavy sigh, as if lamenting his kouhai’s inability to be cute.

“There’s lots of food!?” Grim cut in before Ace could respond.

“Ah, yeah,” Trey replied. “It’s kind of like a buffet.”

“Hey, you!” Grim said, addressing Yuu from where he was perched on his shoulder. “We’re getting one of those medals, no matter what!”

Yuu knew better than to try to persuade the monster otherwise. The first year prefect had learned to pick and choose his battles carefully with Grim.

“Okay,” he replied. “But that means,” he added quickly, looking at Ace and Deuce. “You guys are coming too! I’m not letting you say no, so don’t bother trying.”

The two Heartslabyul first years, having learned how viciously stubborn Yuu could be, had no argument for him.

==================================================== 

"Hey, did they use the old school building for the test of courage last year too?" Yuu asked Ruggie one evening during a lull in activity during a shift they shared at Mostro Lounge.

"Hmm? Yeah, I think they always used it," the second year Savanaclaw student replied. "Why?"

"I mean, until this year they had a perfectly creepy unused dorm complete with ghosts," Yuu pointed out. "Why didn't they use that?"

"Dunno." Ruggie shrugged.

"I believe it was because it was a health hazard to allow students inside the dorm in the state it was in," a smooth voice spoke from behind them.

A little while ago, that probably would have made Yuu jump but he'd grown used to it.

"Hi, Jade-senpai," he said, turning his head to look at the Octavinelle vice-dorm leader.

"Oh yeah," Ruggie said, turning around to lean against the bar counter. "That makes sense."

"My sympathies," Jade said, addressing Yuu with a smile that looked anything but sympathetic.

"So... a health hazard to let students wander around in..." Yuu trailed off before giggling creepily, sounding far more annoyed than amused. "Yeah, sounds about right."

======================================================= 

Each dorm chose a theme for their costumes before starting on them. It seemed that, too, was a tradition. While their dorm was an unofficial one at best, Yuu wanted to make sure that he and Grim would also have costumes that matched each other.

Sewing wasn't exactly the young prefect's forte, but it didn't seem right to get students from other dorms involved when they were already working hard on their own costumes. After a long night of brainstorming with Grim and the Ramshackle ghosts - and shooting down anything that sounded too complicated - Yuu decided on a concept that he could begin working on soon.

It really wasn't anything special, especially when compared to some of the other dorms; not particularly elegant, exotic, or frightening. Yet, it felt astonishingly appropriate.

Grim's costume was simple enough. In fact, it wasn't that different from how he usually looked. Yuu had simply made him a new ribbon for his collar in solid pink. Mostly because he had vehemently objected to wearing anything much more than that. Luckily for him, the concept the Ramshackle prefect had settled on did in fact have a normal cat in it.

Alice in Wonderland may have been just a little _too_ on the nose, but it was simple. Which meant it would be cheap and thank goodness because Yuu had enough money troubles as it was.

A blue Alice dress with white apron, two white petticoats, white stockings, and black lolita round-toe shoes. A wig would have completed the look, but they didn't attend a magic school for nothing. Yuu had to ask very nicely and promise not to shed in classes before being granted permission, but he got Crewel to allow him to use the lab to make a potion for hair growth.

Alice and Dinah were ready for Halloween.

===================================================== 

When the day finally did roll around, both Yuu and Grim were awoken in the morning by the Ramshackle ghosts. The three of them were truly in a good mood recently and while that did mean an increase in their pranks, it also meant an increase in their benevolence. They'd been quite helpful in helping Yuu get his costume ready.

"Thanks again, you guys," the first year said, high-fiving each of them in turn, despite his hand just passing through their transparent forms.

"Don't worry about it," one of them said. "We're members of this dorm too, you said so yourself!"

"True," Yuu replied, remembering bringing them out to play Magift before the tournament. It was a shame they hadn't gotten to see the game through to the end.

He chugged down his potion before heading out for the day. It would start taking effect within several hours, so people would definitely notice his hair growing but to ensure that it was completed in time for the party, taking it now was for the best.

"So, ready for our test of courage?" Ace asked at breakfast.

"I'm ready!" Grim declared. "I'll beat that test and then I'll be able to eat all I want at the party!"

"It really is just food with you..." Ace grumbled.

"It's good that he's consistent though," Deuce pointed out before answering the earlier question. "I feel like this whole thing might be fun. These are the kinds of memories we're supposed to make while we're still students, after all. The kind of thing we'll remember for the rest of our lives."

"Ugh!" Ace groaned. "You're such a good boy, _Deuce-_ _kun_ _!_ " He put a sarcastic emphasis on the suffix. "I'm gonna lose my appetite if you say stuff like that so seriously."

"If you do, I'll finish your breakfast for you," Grim offered.

"Like hell, you will!"

"So early in the morning and already it's loud over here," said a slightly exasperated voice. Riddle was approaching their group to sit with them. "I didn't even have to look to know it was you."

"Sorry~" the rest of them collectively apologized, only to receive a sigh.

"It's All Hallows Eve," Riddle reminded them. "It makes sense that you want to have fun, but don't get carried away." Looking at both Ace and Deuce now, he added, "You know what will happen otherwise, right?"

While it might not have been Riddle's place to discipline Yuu or Grim as they weren't members of his dorm, the other two were quite familiar with the shudder that went through them when getting that look from the Heartslabyul dorm leader and they nodded.

"Good," the second year said with a small smile before starting to eat. While not as strict about time spent at the table as he had been before, Riddle still liked to finish his meals in a timely manner.

"Senpai, did the test of courage turn out well?" Yuu asked him between bites of his own breakfast.

"I was working on it," Riddle replied as if no further answer was needed. He continued anyway, "I wouldn't allow anyone to cut corners with it." After a pause, he added, "... Especially after last year."

Yuu thought back to that picture that Riddle had supposedly told Cater to delete, feeling curious about what exactly happened the previous year. He wondered for a moment if he dared to ask the redhead, but he decided that no. He didn't dare.

====================================================== 

Being a Saturday meant that there were no classes going on that day, so there was free time until the test of courage was opened to the students at 10 o'clock. Several first years ended up there early anyway, just to get a good look at it from the outside.

The old school building was largely unused for anything besides storage and the occasional club activity. It usually looked just like an old but pretty normal building. Not particularly decrepit or anything. From the outside, it still looked like that. The exceptions being the small booth set up at the main entrance and the fact that the windows appeared to have been boarded up from the outside.

"I wonder if that's wise," Yuu mused, looking at the boards and thinking about how much damage would be done to the exterior once they had to pry them off.

"You shouldn't worry about that," Jamil replied from behind the booth, being assigned to setting things up out there. "That, at least, is something you could fix with magic."

"You know," Yuu began, "after being told so many times that magic can't fix certain things, I just started assuming that it won't fix anything I see that broken."

Jamil's back was turned, so the first year couldn't see his face, but he could hear the smile in his voice as he said, "That's fair enough."

===================================================== 

The closer the time got, the more curious first years were milling around. Yuu met up with Jack before either Ace or Deuce showed up. There were small rule pamphlets being passed around now, detailing how the test would work.

The objective was to explore the building, look for clues, and find the place where small medals were being kept. Exiting with one was enough to clear the test of courage. The only restrictions were that property destruction, violence against anyone inside, and use of magic as an extra light source were prohibited. Groups could be between 2-5 people.

"That's seriously it?" Ace asked, passing the pamphlet off after skimming through it once.

"I doubt they'll make it easy for us," Yuu said, thinking of all the very, as Trey had put it, _unique_ second years he'd met so far at Night Raven College.

"Scared?" Ace teased. "Don't worry, I'll hold your hand~"

"Ace, I live with ghosts," the prefect reminded his friend, giving him a blank stare. Yuu was also fairly certain that he'd seen scarier stuff at work than whatever would be in there.

Apparently taking Ace's teasing seriously, Deuce stepped closer to Yuu and said, "It's fine. I'll make sure nothing gets too close to you."

"No, like I already said, I-"

"Give it up," Jack sighed. "They _really_ aren't listening."

"You guys, we need to stop standing around and go get one of those medals!" Grim shouted at them. "I'm going to that party tonight and I won't let any of you get in the way of me and that buffet!"

"He sure does get serious whenever food is involved," Jack observed.

 _"Right!?"_ Ace agreed.

Getting in the line that had formed in front of the booth, Yuu turned back to Jack. "So, you're coming with us then, right? That'll make five."

The Savanaclaw first year grumbled a little, nothing particularly coherent, before saying, "Either way is fine. I'll go with you if you're asking."

"You know, it's okay to just say you want to come with us, right?" Ace asked him.

"Shut up!"

===================================================== 

The line moved along slowly. Apparently, they were only letting a specific number of groups in at a time to avoid having too much hallway traffic.

"... Yuu, I've been wondering for a while," Jack began.

"Hm?" The smaller boy turned around to look at the other.

"What's going on with your hair?"

Bringing a hand up to touch his hair, Yuu could feel that it was indeed starting to get noticeably longer. Jack, standing behind him, had probably watched it grow in real time.

"I'm growing it for my costume later," he explained as they neared the front of the line.

"You still haven't told anyone what you're going as," Ace complained. "You've already seen everyone else's too!"

"We're going as-" Yuu covered Grim's mouth before he could give away the surprise.

"The impact will be bigger if you don't know ahead of time," the prefect replied cryptically.

Once the group ahead of them went inside, theirs was free to approach the booth. It didn't surprise Yuu much to see Azul had volunteered to take the role of manning it.

"So, the five of you-" the Octavinelle dorm leader began, "-Ah, but Yuu-san and Grim-san are counted as one student, so you only need to bring back four medals." He wrote their names down on a sheet keeping track of who had gone in and which of them had come out successfully.

"Just read over this and sign it before you go inside," Azul said, handing each of them a copy of the same paper.

Before even looking at it, Yuu spoke up, falling into uncharacteristically formal speech. "Senpai, certainly you understand the trepidation that I feel at being asked to put my name on anything that you have given to me, yes?"

"You wound me, Yuu-san," he said with a chuckle. "But if you must know, I did not write this up. These have been a part of the tests of courage since long before I arrived at this school."

The first years looked over the paper together. Indeed, it did just seem to be a sort of waver stating that they had read the rule pamphlet and, more worryingly, that if they were to suffer some sort of heart attack or stroke from stress induced by fright, neither the students inside nor any staff members of Night Raven College were legally liable for it.

"Is that a real concern?" Deuce asked, looking more than a little perturbed.

"I believe it is simply insurance," Azul replied. "After all, no one has ever died during a test of courage. Not on record, in any case."

"When you say it, it sounds even sketchier than when Cater-senpai said it," Yuu mumbled, signing the paper regardless.

The rest of the group followed suit with degrees of hesitation before returning the documents to Azul.

"Then," the merman began, quickly looking over the signatures, "have fun inside. And... _be careful,_ of course."

"Let's go!" Grim exclaimed, jumping off of his perch on Yuu's shoulder and leading the way inside, leaving the rest of them no choice but to chase after him. Hopefully he wouldn't get too far ahead before they caught up...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is dedicated entirely to the Test of Courage, so that's fun.


	2. Thriller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu, Grim, Ace, Deuce, and Jack go through their test of courage together and find out just how much effort the second years are willing to put into scaring them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, most of this is not super detailed as horror is not my forte. I love horror, but I do not write it well.  
> That being said, due to some grotesque imagery being described, I felt it was best to bump the rating up to a T.
> 
> There is a POV shift from Yuu to Jack, but not for very long.

As soon as all five of them had passed through the main entrance to the old school building, the doors slammed shut behind them. They'd seen it happen when other groups went in, so apart from a small flinch from Yuu and Jack's ears twitching, it didn’t get much of a reaction.

"It's super dark in here," Yuu observed. "Almost can't believe it's so sunny outside."

Perhaps having Grim with them was an unfair advantage, seeing as the flames in his ears gave off extra light, but considering what the second years had done with the place, the sickly blue light might have actually been making the atmosphere even creepier.

An old building, not derelict or anything like that, but one that has definitely been around for a long time - that was what the old school building had always been to them. There were no longer any traces of such a place from what could be seen. Instead, the building looked like it was falling apart. The paint on the walls was chipped in a lot of places, the ceiling looked to be crumbling in some spots, and dust and cobwebs were piled up everywhere.

"Now this just feels like home," Yuu said sarcastically.

“You seriously need a better place to live,” Ace sighed.

Yuu agreed. Words could not express just how much Yuu agreed, but he ignored his friend’s comment and focused on catching up to Grim who was starting to run too far ahead of everyone else.

“We don’t even know what we’re looking for yet, get back here!” he called. “We can look together; the medals aren’t going anywhere!”

Grim turned around, but whatever he was about to say was lost when he instead pointed a paw towards something behind them. “Hey, what’s that guy doing?” he asked.

Everyone else turned around. In the darkness, they could just barely see a student slowly crawling on the ground a short way down the hall. His movements were jerky and accompanied by the clanking of chains. It was hard to see the boy’s face in the darkness, but there was the unmistakable gleam of a collar adorning his neck.

“H-help me,” the student pleaded. “Please, get me out of here! I don’t want to do this anymore!”

“Wh-who?” Deuce asked, bewildered. “Are you a first year?”

“What the hell are they doing in here to get this kind of reaction?” Ace wondered.

“Please, you have to get me out! I’ll do anything, I-” before he could finish his sentence, something in the dark dragged him back, leaving nothing but a  bloodcurdling scream echoing down the hall.

“Change of plans, run!” Yuu shouted, slapping Ace on the shoulder before taking off to catch up with Grim who wasn’t waiting to be told twice. Perhaps it wasn’t a great idea to try keeping up with three athletes and a four-legged creature, but the first year prefect managed to not get left behind thanks to Jack physically pushing him forward whenever he started losing speed.

After turning a corner, Deuce threw a door open and took a quick look inside the room before motioning everyone else inside. After slamming the door shut behind them, they all took a moment to catch their breaths.

“That had to be part of the test, right?” Ace asked finally. “Like, that guy was probably a second year who was acting!" He sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than anyone else.

“Probably,” Yuu replied, still breathing hard as his heart thudded in his chest. “But were you seriously planning to stick around and find out?” It was a question that didn’t need an answer, and silence hung thickly in the air for a few long moments.

“Might as well have a look around since we’re in here, yeah?” Jack said finally.

Yuu nodded in agreement, glancing around the room. From the size of it, it was likely that it had served as a classroom in the past, but now it resembled an abandoned prison more than anything else. They stood in the open space of the half of the room closest to the door; the other half had been fashioned with old, rusted bars that made up three different cells.

“There’s some sort of note scrawled on the far wall over here,” Deuce informed them, having approached the cell closest to them. “It’s hard to read it from here though.”

The rules forbade them from destroying the bars or using magic to get more light, leaving the group with limited options.

“I don’t get why one of you can’t just ‘ Alohomora ’ it open,” Yuu grumbled.

“Nobody but you  knows what that means,” Ace griped back at him, making the prefect groan out loud.

“Fine! Maybe Grim can squeeze through the bars then.”

“Hey!” Grim objected. “Don’t talk about me like I’m some pet doing tricks! I’m the Great Grim!”

“Shut up,” Ace said. “Can you do it or not?”

“Don’t start,” Yuu intervened before it could become a fight. “Grim, you’re the only one of us who can do this. It’s for the buffet!”

The monster was inside the cell faster than you could say “canned tuna”. Approaching the far wall, he took a closer look at the letters written there.

“It says...” He took another moment before reading out the full message. “' _This is not the clue you’re looking for.’_ … What is that supposed to mean!?”

Before anyone could answer him, a part of the floor opened up and a hand shot out, quickly grabbing hold of Grim by one of his back legs and dragging him down before closing the opening back up. They could hear him screaming at whoever _ (whatever?) _ had grabbed him and struggling for a few moments, then... Nothing.

“Grim?” Yuu called out for his dorm mate.

Silence.

It was Ace who finally broke the stillness in the room. “All in favor of leaving the room, say ‘aye’.”

“Aye,” Deuce replied.

“Aye,” Yuu said.

“Aye,” Jack agreed.

“Aye, let’s go!”

They exited quickly, shutting the door behind them.

“So, what now?” Jack asked. “We look for stairs to the basement? That’s where he would be now, right?”

“Most likely,” Yuu agreed. “I want to go back the way we came first though. Where we saw the guy on the floor.”

_ “Why?” _ Deuce asked, looking at the smaller boy like he’d grown another head.

“Because it’s a test of courage. If they tried to scare us into running one way, wouldn’t it make sense that there’s something worth looking for in the opposite direction?” Yuu began walking briskly back towards the last hallway without waiting for a response. After a moment, he could hear the others following before they fell into a formation with Ace on his left, Deuce on his right, and Jack towering behind the three of them.

As they approached the place where they’d seen the boy in chains, Deuce stared pointedly at the floor. “That is... unsettling.”

Following his gaze, Yuu could see what looked like scratch marks on the wood of the floor; as if someone had dug their nails in while being pulled off to a place they didn’t want to go. The beams of light haphazardly coming in through the cracks between the boards on the windows wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to see something stuck in one of the marks where it ended.

Bending down to pick it up, Yuu barely touched it before immediately pulling back. It was sticky. Looking at his hand, he could see a spot of red on his fingertip where he had touched the thing.

“What the fu-” Ace began.

**“WATCH YOUR MOUTH!”** a deep voice bellowed angrily from the shadows.

“We’re walking!” Jack insisted, pushing the other three forward.

The other marks that didn’t have anything gross in them kept going, curving suddenly to the left and ending right in front of a closed door.

“I don’t  wanna go in there,” Ace admitted.

“Yeah,” Yuu agreed. “Me neither, but do we really have a choice?”

“I don’t mind going in first,” Deuce said, stepping in front of Yuu and placing his hand on the door.

Yuu held onto Deuce’s shirt with two fingers, Ace held onto Yuu’s shoulder with one hand, Jack just barely stopped himself from placing his own hand on Yuu’s other shoulder, instead letting it hover close to the smaller boy. Deuce took a deep breath before throwing open the door.

If the last room had been a collection of prison cells, then this one was more of a solitary confinement room. The size made it clear that this room had probably been some sort of janitorial closet before. Only one of them would be able to enter with enough space to look around.

“Well, go ahead then, Deuce,” Ace offered.

“What?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Yuu agreed, feeling only slightly bad about it. “I mean, you said you were going in first, right? We wouldn’t want to steal your moment.”

"I did say that," Deuce admitted, reluctantly entering the room.

"That guy is way too nice for you jerks," Jack muttered.

"We know," Ace agreed.

"Oh yeah," Yuu nodded.

The room was so small that there wasn't really much to check out. Unlike in the hallway or the room with the cells, a single overhead light bulb provided some extra light. A  creaky , metal-framed bed was the only piece of furniture in an otherwise empty room. Lifting up the paper-thin mattress kicked up dust, and Deuce coughed, waving his hand in front of his face.

When the dust cleared, there was a board of some kind hidden between the mattress and the bed frame. Deuce waved the others over. "You guys should see this," he said.

There not being much space, Yuu went inside and left Ace and Jack standing by the door. "What did you find?" he asked, peering at the board with interest.  


"A map?" Not quite a map, but floor plans that they could use as a general guide. The room they were currently in was marked with a red circle and tracing back down the hallway, Yuu could locate the entrance they'd come in through.

Tracing further down the hall and around the corner, the room with the cells was also there - marked with a red exclamation point. Several other rooms also had these.

"... Traps?" Yuu wondered aloud, thinking about how Grim had been yanked under the floor. "If this is accurate, we can avoid whatever happened when they grabbed Grim."

"It's not complete though," Deuce pointed out. "It only has the first floor on it."

"Wouldn't there be more on the other floors then?" Jack asked from the doorway.

"Probably," Yuu nodded. "For now, let's head to the basement and get Grim back. Then we can just hurry to the second floor." He traced the path from the room they were at to the main stairwell several times,  committing it to memory. "Let's go."

"I actually have a question," Ace said as they fell back into formation, letting Yuu lead the way toward the stairs. "What were they planning to do if they grabbed a person instead of Grim? Like, he's easy to hold but wouldn't it be dangerous for them to just start yanking on a person's ankle?"

"I'm more interested in how anyone was supposed to get into those cells to begin with," Yuu replied. "I guess they might have hidden a key somewhere; we didn't really check the whole room."

It was surprising to the prefect when they managed to reach the stairs without anything getting in their way. Naturally, that all changed when something came falling down from a higher floor, hitting the ground floor with a solid _"CRACK!"_

Yuu reeled backwards into Jack, who had both hands gripping the prefect's shoulders in a vice, while Ace clung onto Yuu's arm with a tiny shriek. Deuce had taken up a fighting stance, as if getting ready to defend them.

"I-is it dead?" Ace asked, looking at the thing that had fallen from above. It was sprawled out, limbs bent at odd angles.

"A... human body?" Yuu said, fearfully.

Jack realized what it was before any of the others did. "It's a mannequin," he told them. "It doesn't have a scent. Someone just tossed it down here."

The other three heaved heavy sighs of relief, relaxing their tensed postures. When Yuu looked at Ace who was still holding his arm, he quickly let go of the Ramshackle prefect and said, "Well, let's go then!" before starting down the steps to the basement.

Yuu followed him quickly, teasingly echoing Ace's own words from earlier, "Scared? Don't worry, I'll hold your hand~"

"Hey, shut up!"

The basement was surprisingly well-lit. And had a surprising number of people in it! A group of nine people sitting on a blanket and playing Old Maid was perhaps not the _last_ thing Yuu had expected to find down here, but it had to be very close to the end of the list.

"Oh, hey~" A cheerful voice called after its owner spotted them. Kalim was waving them over. "Just let us finish this hand and then you can take Grim with you!"

"Dare I ask what is going on here?" Yuu wondered .

"Oh yeah, anybody caught in the traps gets brought down here. Then I keep them from leaving  til their group comes to get them!" Taking another look at the people gathered there, it did indeed seem to be all first years aside from Kalim.

"You guys took too long," Grim complained.

"You haven't even been here for more than fifteen minutes yet," another familiar voice said, sounding like they were just barely suppressing their frustration.

"Epel, you're here?" Jack asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, the two of us are getting to know each other  real well!" Kalim said with a laugh. It seemed that was the last straw for the small first year.

"I been here for over an _hour!_ _"_ he screamed. " Ain't no way the rest of ' em are even still in this place!"

"Nah, don't worry," Kalim assured him. "They won't be allowed out unless they have everyone they came in with."

"Who's in your group?" Deuce asked. "If we see them, we can tell them to come get you."

"Honestly, whose bright idea was it to not tell anyone that they have to do this if somebody from their group gets nabbed?" Ace grumbled.

"I thought it'd be more fun if it was a surprise," the second year said, cheerfully plucking a card from the first year to his right and then immediately frowning at it.

"Well, you asked," Yuu shrugged.

After the hand had finished up with a spectacular loss for Grim, he rejoined the group. Yuu filled him in about the map as they climbed the stairs back up to the first floor.

"So, we're heading upstairs now," he finished.

"Let's hurry and find those medals," Grim insisted. "I don't  wanna stay in this place  anymore !"

"I just want to get out of here before Yuu's hair eats us," Ace said, shooting a grin at the prefect.

"It'll be fine once I get a brush through it!" he objected as they began climbing toward the second floor. Indeed, Yuu's blond hair seemed to be getting  wilder the longer it became, but he was certain that was just because it was growing so quickly without him having a chance to take care of it.

The atmosphere on the second floor was completely different from the first. If the first floor was an abandoned prison, then the second was more like a decidedly not abandoned mansion. The halls were lit with dim but fancy lamps and the floors were  carpeted in soft velvet rugs.

"Riddle-senpai really wasn't kidding when he said that they didn't cut any corners," Yuu said.

"Not  gonna lie, I'm kind of looking forward to next year," Ace admitted with a smile.

"So, we don't know where any of the traps on this floor are," Jack said as they started checking around the hallway. "That means don't touch anything until we find the map."

"You don't need to order me around!" Grim protested. "Who do you think I am!?"

"Should we just walk around the hallway until we find something meant to scare us away?" Deuce asked.

"It'd probably be better to at least take a look inside the rooms we pass," Yuu replied, approaching a door not far from the stairwell and pulling it open. A billiard room of some kind, though the balls seemed to be moving on their own. The room smelled of cigar smoke, the kind that wealthy young gentlemen might partake of during a game of pool. Soft jazz music was playing.

Yuu shut the door almost right away. "The pretentiousness of this room is the scariest thing in this building," he declared.

"We still have more than half-" Deuce began.

"I don't need to see the rest," the prefect interrupted him.

The rest of the rooms had similar atmospheres, though with much creepier inhabitants than invisible billiard players. A dining room where a severed head on a silver platter demanded they help find its body; a study littered with mangled corpses and a man in a fancy suit hanging from the ceiling; a ballroom where the guests had danced for so long that their shoes had worn through and their blistered feet left trails of blood as they moved across the dance floor. Even if all of the injuries were mere illusion created by magic, it was more than sufficiently eerie.

A quick walk through each room without touching anything was all the time they spent in each place, but it was disturbing to see just how well put together the entire floor was. After having nearly moved halfway around the building, they reached a room that was fashioned like an entrance hall.

It was the first room they'd come across that didn't seem to have anyone else inside. There was no activity, there were no horrors, it was simply a room. It put Yuu on high alert.

"I shouldn't have to say this, but be especially careful to not touch anything," he said before walking into the room.

"Hey, what's this thing?" Grim asked, floating over to one of the walls to get a closer look at something.

" _Grim!_ What did I just say!?" Yuu rushed over, ready to yank the monster away from whatever he had taken interest in, only to stop when he saw what it was.

Pinned up on the wall was another  floor map . Having already grabbed Grim by the ribbon around his collar, Yuu loosened his grip, smiling and giving his dorm mate a quick squeeze.

"Good job, Grim," he praised him. "You found the map."

"I did?" Grim asked, before immediately turning  pompous . "I mean, of course I did! I'm the Great Grim, after all! Something like this is easy for me!"

"Don't let it go to your head," Yuu sighed as the others joined them to take a look at the floor plans.

"So that's what the one downstairs looked like," Ace mused.

"So, we're here," Deuce pointed to the room circled in red. "But there's a trap marked for this room as well."

"Which means still don't touch anything," Yuu reminded them.

As if waiting for those words as his cue, Ace reached out towards a candle sticking out of the wall and pulled on the candle holder.

"Crap," he muttered.

_"Why did you do that!?"_ both Jack and Deuce screamed at him.

"I don't know! I didn't think about it, I just _did_ it!" A panel in the wall opened up and a hand reached out to grab Ace by the arm, pulling him into the wall before the panel was quickly closed again.

"Do we have to go downstairs to pick him up now?" Jack asked after the abducted first year's screaming had died down.

"Probably," Yuu sighed. "But before we do that..." he looked over at a slightly ajar closet, eyes narrowing as he marched over towards it and threw it open. "That was cheating, Senpai," he said, staring down at  Ruggie who was crouched inside.

The hyena let out one of his  signature laughs before saying, "There's no rule that we can't use magic, just that you guys can't."

"I hate that you're right," Yuu replied, closing the door and leaving the second year in the dark before leaving the room; Jack, Deuce, and Grim following after him.

"So, we head back downstairs to pick up Ace," Deuce began, "Should we head up to the third floor after that?"

"There weren't any particularly interesting marks on the floor plans for the second floor, so that's a good idea," Yuu replied, leading the way back to the stairwell.

When they got back down to the basement, there were far less people than before. Apparently, Epel's group had finally come to collect him at some point. Ace and Kalim were playing Speed with the cards from earlier, while the only other two first years watched with bored expressions.

"Come on, Ace," Yuu called to him.

"Hang on, I'm winning."

"I was going to say we can't be mad at him since it wasn't his fault," Jack said. "But I changed my mind – I'm mad."

Both Yuu and Deuce nodded in agreement.

=====================================================    


Climbing the stairs once again, heading up to the third floor – the top floor of the building – Yuu explained to Ace why he’d triggered a trap.

“Damn,” he swore under his breath. “Hey Jack-”

“I’m not  gonna hit him, so don’t ask.”

If the second floor had been a fancy mansion, then the third floor was like the interior of a castle out of some old, Gothic horror film. The air felt a few degrees cooler despite the torches lining the walls as light sources.

Perhaps most surprisingly was that the floor plans for the third floor were posted up on the wall right in front of the stairwell.

“About time we caught a break,” Ace said, jogging up to the map and taking a look at it.

There were no traps marked on this floor, but instead there were rooms marked with small black keys. A large space that may have once been a conference room had a target drawn on it as well as five locks in front of the door.

“So, what does that mean?” Deuce asked. “We just need to get the keys from the rooms?”

“You have a weird way of answering your own questions sometimes,” Ace told him.

“Quiet! It’s easier to think when you say your thoughts out loud!”

“Guys,” Yuu began, cautiously.

“Maybe for you, but most of us don’t need to make thinking easier. It’s just something we do like breathing.”

Deuce bristled. “I saw your score on the last magical history test we had, and you could stand to work harder on thinking!”

“Cone on, you guys-” Yuu tried again.

“Oh yeah!?” Ace spat back at him. “Well at least I don’t blow up everything I touch in alchemy classes!”

Jack growled at them both, “Can we just all agree you’re _both_ idiots and move along now?”

_“No!”_ both of the  Heartslabyul first years shouted, glaring at the  Savanaclaw student before resuming their argument on which of them was dumber.

Of course, Jack was right; they were both about equally stupid.

Yuu took a deep breath, preparing to start shouting over them, when a hand clamped down on his mouth, another grabbing his arm and quickly pulling him into a nearby room. The fact that the yelling outside did not even for a moment pause after he was taken made Yuu make a mental note to chew all four of them out later on.

The room he’d been forced into was a dark, lonely looking foyer. The fireplace was unlit and the only light source was a lone candle placed on the mantle. A rocking chair moved steadily back and forth and despite it being empty, Yuu could occasionally catch a quick glimpse of a human shaped shadow being cast from it in the flickering candlelight.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come play with me~” Yuu’s kidnapper crooned. “If I take my hand away, will you promise to be a good Shrimpy and not scream?”

The first year nodded, relaxing slightly as he recognized just who he’d been snatched up by. Not entirely free of worry, but relatively sure that he wasn’t about to be killed. At least not intentionally. Probably.

Sighing upon being released, Yuu tilted his head back to look at the older boy standing over him. “What gives with that? I didn’t trigger any traps!”

“Is there a rule that I can’t grab you even if you don’t do anything wrong?” Floyd asked, making the first year click his tongue in irritation. Of course, there wasn’t any such rule but he would have thought it went without saying.

Outside of the room, Yuu heard a loud bellow of “BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP! YUU IS GONE!” and  amended his mental note to go easy on Jack when he chewed them all out later.

“They realized,” Floyd said with some annoyance, as if it hadn’t taken them too long already. “Come on, hurry and come with me~” He grabbed Yuu’s hand now, pulling him over to the fireplace.

“Where the heck are you taking me, Senpai?” the prefect asked, feeling what he considered a healthy amount of apprehension considering the situation.

“You’ll see, you’ll see~” Being unhelpfully cryptic, Floyd knocked on the back wall of the fireplace three times before it shifted, moving back to reveal an opening. “Go ahead~”

“I’m good,” Yuu replied. “You can go first.”

The words were hardly out of his mouth before he was being shoved into the fireplace. “Nope! I really think it’s better if you go ahead of me, Shrimpy!”

Despite being unlit, there was ash in the fireplace and it made Yuu coughed. “Okay, I get it!” he said. “Stop pushing!” No sooner had the words left his mouth did a hand from someone on the other side of the opening shoot out to grab him and pull him the rest of the way through.

“That was... so not what I meant,” Yuu complained, rubbing his arm that was sore from being grabbed and pulled on so hard.

“Oh? My sincere apologies if I misunderstood you,” said the person who had pulled him through.

“You and sincere are basically antonyms, Jade-senpai,” the first year replied dully.

“Oh my, it seems you are feeling especially bold today, to speak that way with your _senpai."_  


Floyd quickly joined them in the narrow passage behind the fireplace before closing the opening back up. If passages like these were built all over the building, then it made sense how easy it was for someone to grab anyone who triggered a trap and drag them down to the basement.

Just how big of a budget did they have to get all this into place?

“In a bad mood, Shrimpy?” Floyd asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Yeah, I’m ready to be done with this place.”

“And after we had gone through so much trouble for your benefit,” Jade sighed.

“Don’t let all of your fun hinge on me, please!” Yuu replied, feeling anxious.

Floyd’s hand quickly covered the prefect’s mouth again as they heard the door to the room with the fireplace open and the others of Yuu’s group entered to look for him.

Jade led them down the narrow, unlit corridor and Yuu would have wondered how either of them could see before realizing that the glowing eyes most likely helped.

Floyd finally removed his hand from the first year’s mouth once they had moved far enough away from the other room.

“How much did all of this even cost?” Yuu mused.

“The secret passages have always been here,” Floyd replied. “We’re just making use of them~”

“I am more surprised that you have yet to discover any of the many in our main school building,” his twin added.

“I don’t exactly go looking for them...”

“I’ll show you some really fun  ones next time, then!” Floyd  offered .

Yuu wondered if it would be possible to politely decline or if trying to turn him down was unwise, before deciding on a vague, “Sure, next time,” before immediately changing the subject.

“So, are you taking me to the basement?”

“What? I’d rather not let the little Sea Otter have you all to himself, so no.” Yuu couldn’t see the taller Leech twin’s face, but he was certain the second year was pouting a little.

“We came to ask that you help us with something,” Jade gave a cryptic explanation.

“What kind of _‘something’?”_ Yuu asked suspiciously .

“My, you truly don’t trust us at all, do you?”

Yuu refused to dignify that with a response, prompting Jade to give a further explanation.

“We aren’t asking much. We just need to you hold onto something for us before we let you back out. By helping us, we can help you skip the rest of this floor. As you said yourself, you’d like to leave sooner than later.”

A long silence ensued, during which the three of them stopped walking. Yuu thought about it before giving his answer.

“I’m listening.”

=====================================================    


Having assumed the role of leading Yuu’s pack of idiots in his absence, Jack was more than a little frustrated. They’d searched all of the rooms close enough for Yuu to have disappeared into during the time it took for him to realize the other was gone. Then, after going all the way back to the basement, Kalim said that Yuu hadn’t been they came to pick Ace up a bit ago. Leaving the group to track back up the stairs again.

“Maybe he just got tired of you guys and went to finish the test of courage on his own,” Grim suggested.

“But Asim-senpai said that we wouldn’t be able to leave unless everyone was together,” Deuce pointed out.

“He could still have gone ahead on his own, though,” Ace said. “He’s probably already in the locked room, waiting for us to show up.”

“If he is, I’m wringing his neck,” Jack growled, marching up to the map of the third floor. “But  let's find those damn keys already!”

“Alright!” Grim shouted, fist (paw?) pumping the air.

All they had to do was relatively straightforward; while there were some frightening things waiting to jump out at them hidden around most of the rooms, the absence of traps meant they just had to power through it long enough to grab the keys and run back out. And knowing exactly which rooms they had to go to kept them from poking around places with nothing to find like they had on the second floor.

“That’s the last one!” Deuce said, sounding excited as he slammed the  door they’d just run out of on a second year who looked like he had a gaping hole for a face.

“Alright, let’s go to that locked room!” Grim cheered, equally excited.

“Ahh, they’re really like little kids,” Ace bemoaned.

“You _really_ don't deserve to say that ,” Jack told him as they all started making their way towards the room indicated with locks on the floor plans.

As it turned out, they really only needed one per person entering. Which made sense when considering that the maximum size for a group was five people.

They entered into a room that was relatively well lit compared to everywhere else on this floor. With torches, candles, and a large chandelier all giving off bright glows from the flames. The room itself was relatively empty. A sort of ritualistic altar stood in the center of it and on that altar, a stone bowl filled with the medals they were meant to retrieve.

The only other decoration was a coffin that stood propped upright against the wall close to where they walked in.

“We got it!” Grim cried, dashing forward towards the altar to claim his prize of a medal. When nothing happened to him, the other three followed, each taking one for themselves.

“Yuu isn’t here,” Deuce observed.

“Well, you know that guy,” Ace shrugged. “He’ll turn up if we look around enough.” They started walking back towards the door when Ace continued, “Still, this whole last phase felt way too easy-”

He was cut off when the lid of the coffin flew open and someone leapt out, swinging a heavy axe in their direction. Jack just barely managed to pull Grim back and save him from losing a leg.

“Easy is fine though!” Ace screamed as he bolted out the door.

“Why did you even have to say anything to begin with!?” Deuce yelled, running after him.

The person with the axe was bent over, breathing heavily, their face covered by long, wild hair. When their scent hit Jack’s nose, a few things clicked but created more questions.

“What the hell, Yuu?”

=====================================================    


Having been forced to lug an axe that weighed at least half as much as he did through those secret passages had done a number on the young prefect. Especially when Floyd had told him to raise it up before unceremoniously shoving him out into a room.

When Yuu dropped the axe and looked up, he saw a terrified Grim and an annoyed, yet concerned Jack.

“What the hell, Yuu?” the wolf asked him.

Straightening up and brushing his hair out of his face, Yuu started trying to answer him. “Leech twins.”

Further explanation was not required.

=====================================================    


They managed to meet up with Ace and Deuce near the stairwell on the third floor, the two of them thankfully having managed not to run around aimlessly like headless chickens.

“What the hell, man!?” Ace demanded when he realized who their axe-wielding attacker had been. “You gave me a freaking heart attack!”

“Where were you all this time?” Deuce demanded.

Yuu shook his head, plucking the medal from Grim – ignoring the monster’s protests – and stuck it into his pocket for safe keeping.

“I’ll explain on the way out,” he told them, immediately beginning his explanation of how he was grabbed while the Idiot Duo was arguing. Ace huffily objected to the moniker; Deuce quietly accepted it considering their argument had led to Yuu getting taken right in front of him.

They passed another group of first years on the stairs, wishing them luck, before Yuu continued to explain about the fireplace and the passages and “holding onto something” for the Leech twins.

“What did they plan to do if you’d actually managed to hit us with that thing!?” Jack demanded.

Yuu could only shrug.

=====================================================    


The five basked in feeling the natural light of the sun shining down on them as soon as they exited the building.

“Now, I don’t ever want to go back in there until it’s our turn to do the scaring,” Ace declared.

“So, you were scared?” Yuu teased.

“ Shaddup !”

“Oh my gosh!” someone said as they walked further from the building. “Hold on, I need a pic of this!”

That was all the warning Yuu had before Cater was in front of him, snapping a picture of his crazy hair.

“That’s wild, can I post this?” he asked.

Yuu opened his mouth, ready to ask the third year not to but instead ended up saying, “Yeah, go ahead.”

“You serious?”

“Sure! I mean, what’s the worst that would happen if you do?” Yuu’s mind immediately supplied the worst-case scenario of Vil seeing it and then murdering him because he taught the first year prefect _so_ much better than that.

Well, if that happened, then it would happen.

“So,” Cater said, talking as he uploaded the picture with enough hashtags that Yuu started reconsidering giving him permission, “did you guys all finish your test?”

Ace and Deuce both chuckled before pulling out the medal they’d got from the room with the altar – a gold pin with a blue ribbon  attached to it.

Jack quietly took his own out of his pocket to look at it. They seemed to all be the same.

Grim piped up, “Hey, hey you! Show them mine too!”

“It’s _ours,_ Grim,” Yuu corrected him, but pulled it out regardless before blinking at it. The size and shape were the exact same as the one’s the other boys had, but the colors were different. The pin was silver and the ribbon was red.

“Hey, ours is different!” the prefect exclaimed.

“Oh yeah, it is,” Ace noted. “Do you get anything for that?”

"That's weird, though," Grim muttered. "I'm pretty sure I grabbed a blue one like everybody else..."

“Oh, Yuu-chan,” Cater said, his tone taking on a note of sympathy. “Looks like you’ll be the guest of honor at the party tonight.”

“What does that mean?”

“But, don’t worry! I’m sure you won’t be out there all alone~” the third year, waved off his question, to which Yuu spoke more  insistently .

“Seriously, Cater-senpai, what are you talking about?”

“Well~ It’d be better if it’s a surprise, you know?” Cater shot Yuu a grin. “But if you ask _real_ cutely, then maybe I’ll tell you!”

There was silence, before Yuu deadpanned, “Are you kidding?”

“Mostly,” Cater nodded before actually telling Yuu what he wanted to know. “It’s part of the game we play at the party. One first year gets to be the human who’s wandered into a ball held by monsters and spirits~”

“And... dare I ask what that human does during this game?” Yuu asked  apprehensively .

“Well, first we blindfold them-”

“-This already sounds weird,” Jack said quietly.

“-and they stand in the middle of the dance floor-”

“-Some kind of public shaming?” Deuce wondered, shock plain on his features.

“-and they get approached by monsters – that is, the other students – asking for a dance.”

Yuu blinked at the older student. “That’s it?” he asked after a moment.

“Well, you also aren’t allowed to turn anyone down. So, you just have to keep dancing until your requests dry up. I bet you’ll get a lot of offers, Yuu- chan ~” Cater paused for a moment before adding, “Provided you do something about your crazy hair before the party starts.”

“You said it’s a game, didn’t you?” Grim asked. “How do we win it?”

The third year chuckled lowly. “That’s~ A~ Secret~” he replied, and Yuu could practically hear the heart at the end of that statement.

“I thought I’d be able to take it easy the rest of the day!” Yuu whined.

Ace laughed at him. “Well, have fun~”

“Wash the soot out of your hair,” Deuce suggested, just barely not laughing.

Yuu pinched both of them until they apologized.

_‘Well, Alice,’_ he thought, _‘your rabbit hole just got a bit deeper.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, has this all just been an elaborate excuse to write Yuu getting to dance with everyone? Kinda, but also kinda not. The test of courage concept came before the dance party concept.


	3. Calling All The Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party gets started, Grim gets to feast, and several characters get to see Yuu in his costume for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the actual "game" were originally going to be one chapter, but it got extremely long and thus has been split up into this smaller chapter and the next much longer chapter.

Getting his hair to actually do what he wanted - which was simply to just lie flat and nothing fancy at all - took significantly more time than Yuu had expected. He hadn't had long hair in a  _ long _ time.

"Not since I was in grade school," he mumbled to himself as he carefully tried to comb out all of the frizz.

"Hey, you!" Grim called to him from across the room. "The party is supposed to start really soon! We need to hurry up!"

"Grim, I promise that there will still be plenty of food left for you even if we don't get there the second it starts," the prefect sighed. He normally wouldn't put this much effort into looking better than merely "presentable”, but considering that people were actually going to be looking at him tonight, he thought it'd be best to look good.

That said, Grim's patience was short at the best of times and so Yuu did try to speed it up a bit, glaring at his reflection in the mirror as he worked until he deemed his hair "good enough" and put the black hairband of his costume into place, completing the outfit he'd already changed into.

"Okay, let's go," Yuu said, giving Grim a smile as the monster stared at him like he was still not pacified.

As an apology for making him wait, the boy took the medal they'd gotten from the test of courage and pinned it to the ribbon of Grim's "costume". It made him perk up with a questioning noise.

"You're the one who took it from the altar, right?" his prefect said. " So, you should be the one to wear it tonight. Everyone should know how brave you are."

"Yuu..." Grim was more than pleased with both the praise and the medal, eagerly climbing up onto Yuu's shoulder so the two of them could go together. He was quick to take his usual cocky tone, however. " Of course, I should be the one to have it! I went through that whole floor while you got to play with the twins!"

Yuu wanted to point out that the stuff the Leech twins actually did to people on a daily basis was way scarier than anything in that building, but he kept the thought to himself.

"Oh, you kids have fun!" one of the Ramshackle ghosts called to them as they left.

"And don't feel the need to hurry back, since we're having a party of our own here!" another added.

Indeed, all three were wearing a cloak and  top hat as if dressing up for an occasion. Yuu gave them a tiny smile.

"Just don't let things get  _ too _ crazy, okay?" he asked them.

"Don't worry about it!" the large one said, shooing them out the door and into the crisp air of the autumn evening.

That wasn't a reassuring response, but as Yuu stared at the door that had been quickly closed behind them, he found himself thinking that the ghosts deserved a night of uninhibited fun for a change - without himself and Grim coming to chase them off for making a  ruckus .

"Let's go!" Grim urged the boy, lightly smacking at his face with a paw.

"Yeah, let's go," Yuu agreed, starting the walk to the main school building.

====================================================    


He could hear the cafeteria before he could see it. Slow, melancholy music drifted into the rest of the building from the open doors. The room had been repurposed for this occasion, with all of the tables removed to make space for a dance floor and buffet tables that were piled high with delicious smelling foods.

As first years, they had to show off the medal to one of the teachers  chaperoning to be allowed entrance.

"So, this is what you wanted that potion for, pup?" Crewel asked upon seeing the young prefect.

Yuu laughed awkwardly. He knew he'd gotten more than a few looks as he'd made his way here. He'd expected that, but the only people whose reactions he really cared about were those of his friends. Though perhaps some of them were just people he liked spending time with but who would object to being called the first year's friend.

"It's only for tonight," he said. "I'm going to cut it back to normal tomorrow."

"Well, hurry along. Indoors, boys!"

"I'm not a dog!" Grim complained while Yuu obediently entered the cafeteria.

The lighting and decorations made the room look lovely but also dark. It was perfectly suited to a party for monsters and ghosts, making Yuu the one truly out of place there in his bright blue and pure white.

"Th-there's so much food!" Grim exclaimed. "Roasted ham, baked sweet potatoes, turkey and stuffing...!" He immediately hopped down from Yuu's shoulder and started b-lining for the nearest buffet table. It left the prefect with no choice but to run after him

He was  interrupted when someone's arm wrapped around his waist, not pulling him in but simply stopping him from running by. Looking up, Yuu's blue eyes met a pair of green eyes darkened by the shadow of the pirate's hat worn by the other.

"Oh, hi Leona-senpai," he greeted. "Happy Halloween!"

"What? It's just you," the lion grumbled, dropping his arm almost immediately.

Yuu pouted. "Yeah, it's  _ just  _ me. Sorry to get your hopes up."

He left Leona there - sighing about the first year being in  _ "one of his moods" _ , whatever that was supposed to mean - and finished his walk to the buffet table where Grim was already chowing down on an entire turkey leg.

_ "Grim!" _ he scolded, his harsh tone receiving only a questioning glance from the monster who showed no intention of slowing down. "You can't eat that whole thing!"

"This is the one night that you shouldn't worry about that," said a voice to Yuu's right.

Looking over, he saw Riddle. The second year was dressed as what appeared to be some sort of undead creature, body sewn together as if to keep from coming apart and face behind a transparent, black veil. Yuu recognized the outfit as the set theme  Heartslabyul had decided on.

"Hello, Senpai," he greeted the other. "What do you mean by that?"

Riddle's reaction to Yuu's costume was disappointingly lackluster, with the redhead simply giving him a subtle once over before saying, "While I'm displeased with his lack of table manners, Grim should eat as much as he wants on this night. It is, after all, the evening where we honor the monsters of Twisted Wonderland."

Yuu  _ did  _ remember hearing Trein say that that had been the original purpose behind the holiday, despite it having expanded into something far more commercialized and far less respectful of the monsters they shared the land with.

"I suppose you're right about that," the first year admitted, which Grim took as his cue to immediately grab even more food, scrambling across the table to get a bit of everything.

Well, an evening off from having to babysit him so closely was something that Yuu welcomed wholeheartedly, so he wasn't going to complain about it if no one else did.

"I heard from Ace," Riddle began a new line of conversation, "you got the special medal this year?"

"Ah, yeah," Yuu confirmed, scratching the back of his head for a moment. "I don't really have any experience with dancing though, so I feel bad for anybody who decides they want to dance with me."

"In that case, don't you just need a confident and experienced partner who can lead well?" the  Heartslabyul dorm leader asked.

He wasn't entirely wrong, but it probably wasn't as simple as that either - especially when factoring in that the first year would be blindfolded. Before Yuu could say as much, they were both distracted by a bright, loud voice.

"Ooh! Who's this!?" Yuu found himself with a friendly arm around his shoulder, despite Riddle being the one whom the other was addressing "Your sister? Your girlfriend?"

_ "Kalim!" _ Riddle seemed unsure of how to respond. More than the fact that Kalim didn't immediately recognize Yuu, the redhead seemed a bit scandalized that the  Scarabia dorm leader thought it would have been okay to put his hands on a girl who was potentially Riddle's sister or girlfriend.

"She's super cute!" Kalim continued. "Where've you been hiding her!?"

A cleared throat from behind them signaled another  presence who cut in saying, "Kalim, that's Yuu."

"Huh?" Yuu found himself being grabbed by the shoulders and turned towards Kalim, the other carefully peering at his face before shouting, "Hey, you're right!"

" _ Of course, _ I'm right," Jamil muttered to himself, giving Yuu a slightly apologetic look to which the first year just shrugged. Like, what are you  gonna do?

The two of them looked good in their costumes. It was hard to tell at just a glance exactly what they were meant to be, but Yuu thought they resembled kitsune - a fox spirit of folklore from his home country. It made him wonder if some of the same folk tales existed somewhere in Twisted Wonderland.

"You look good!" Kalim declared after taking a few more moments to look the first year over.

"Thanks!" he replied. "You too!" He meant it, the white fox ears and Kalim's usual broad grin combined to make him look like the perfect representation of a  mischievous kitsune spirit.

"Thanks!" Kalim returned. "I still  gotta see other people, but save a dance for me later; it's a promise, okay?"

Yuu nodded, waving to the other before he disappeared into the crowd of students.  _ "Good luck," _ he mouthed the words to Jamil, who seemed like he would have a tough job tonight.

"Just because it's a party, that doesn't mean that he should get carried away like that," Riddle sighed. "He's a dorm leader, he should be setting a better example for the rest of his dorm mates."

"I mean, I didn't really mind-" Yuu began.

"That is irrelevant," the second year interjected. "Suppose you were someone else who  _ did _ mind. Suppose you were, as he'd thought, a girl he had never met before. An unfamiliar man placing his hands on you would be more than cause for concern in that case."

Riddle definitely had a point; it only turned out okay because it had been Yuu. But since the outcome was fine, the first year wasn't nearly as bothered by it as Riddle seemed to think he should be.

"I see your point," Yuu replied, deciding to go the diplomatic route for tonight. "But I'm fine and more importantly, I'm hungry. Do you mind if we talk more later, Senpai? I want to grab some food before Grim  vacuums up everything worth trying."

====================================================    


The food was as delicious as it smelled, which was _twice_ as delicious as it looked. Yuu was especially fond of the roasted ham - it turned out that Grim had a good eye when it came to delicious food, provided you ignored the rock munching.

He'd ended up standing beside Epel and eating together with him. The other boy had seemed surprised and perhaps a little confused at how Yuu felt so comfortable leaning into his own more feminine appearance.

When Yuu actually asked if he was bothered by the cross dressing, Epel had only shaken his head and replied, "That's your business. Although... I think you've got guts."

Yuu kept it to himself that he thought it took more guts to wear one of the vampire costumes that  Pomfiore had settled on. Between the unique pattern of the cloth, the deep colors, and the thigh high boots topping it all off, Yuu was pretty sure that he wouldn't have been able to feel comfortable in it.

Their conversation drifted and the two ended up exchanging stories about what happened during their tests of courage. It seemed Epel still hadn't quite forgiven his group for leaving him in the basement for so long, which was understandable.

"It's not like I hate playing cards, and I don't particularly dislike the  Scarabia dorm leader," he explained. "But  I'd've rather been upstairs with the rest of ‘em."

Yuu nodded, "I can understand that. I-"

He was cut off by the arrival of Ace and Deuce, the latter seemingly being dragged over unwillingly by the former.

"Hey!" Ace greeted them both before addressing Yuu specifically. "So, this is  gonna sound weird, but-"

"Ace-" Deuce tried to interrupt him, practically hiding behind the other first year as he did.

"So, my friend here is pretty shy around girls-" Ace continued, unimpeded.

_ "Ace!" _ Deuce tried more insistently, even as he seemed like he was trying to shrink and make himself small.

"-but he thinks you're cute!"

"ACE!" This time, Deuce stood back up to his full height and smacked the other on the back of the head, hard.

_ 'Oh,'  _ Yuu thought. They didn't recognize him. It was one thing for Kalim to take a minute to realize who he was, but he was with these two every single day. It wasn't even like Yuu had put on any kind of makeup. His face looked exactly the same as it always did, just framed by longer hair. He was very worried for both of their futures.

"Thanks," he replied sarcastically, giving them a wry smile. "I think he's cute, too." What else could he even say besides that?

Epel spoke up from next to Yuu, "Are  ya'll stupid or  somethin '?" making the prefect burst into laughter. It made Deuce actually look him in the eye for the first time since Ace had dragged him over there, spotting that familiar grin and the sparkle of mischief in the other's blue eyes.

"You...  _ Yuu!?" _ he exclaimed in disbelief.

"What?" Ace asked, not getting it until he took a closer look himself.

"Boo," Yuu said monotonously.

Ace really did scream for a second, and Yuu pinned that in his mind as the moment that the evening went from good to great.

====================================================    


Yuu was pleased to see that once dancing music started to be played, there were other boys dancing with each other even before the "game" started. The first being a couple of  Pomfiore students who were joined soon after by a couple of  Heartslabyul second years that Yuu vaguely recognized.

As more and more couples started dancing together - some even from different dorms - the first year smiled. It was nice to see that this sort of atmosphere was possible even in an all-boy's school.

"You look happy," Trey observed, having come over to see what was wrong after Ace had screamed.

Yuu thought about it for a moment. "I  _ am _ happy," he said finally. "I never imagined being in a place quite like this."

"Do you mean the party or this world?"

"Both," he didn't hesitate this time. "You know, I really-"

Yuu didn't get to finish his thought. The current song had finished and now Crowley was calling for everyone's attention for a moment, announcing the beginning of tonight's "game" and beckoning Yuu to the center of the dance floor.

"The human in a monster's ball," he began as the Ramshackle prefect joined him. "must never lay eyes on the creatures there." He showed a piece of silky, black fabric to Yuu before stepping behind him to tie it around his head, cutting off his ability to see.

"Still," he continued, "it would be in that human's best interests to know the names of the monsters it interacts with. If, at the end of the evening, this human can name each monster he danced with in order, then he is the winner of this game."

"And what do I get for winning?" Yuu asked, prompting some chuckles from the other students. Crowley ignored his question, and Yuu became fairly certain that the only reward for this if he won would be the satisfaction of winning itself. Well, self-satisfaction wasn't awful as far as rewards went. He could play this game.

"Now then, let the monster's ball begin!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I wanted to have this fic completed by or on Halloween, but that will probably not be happening. At the very least, I will try to have the game chapter up sometime tonight or tomorrow. After that, I may be asking _you_ , the readers, to play a game with me, as well~


	4. Monster Mash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuu discovers that there is such a thing as too much dancing, but he still has fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't kidding when I said this would be a MUCH longer chapter.
> 
> At what point does something go from "possibly a crush but it's intentionally ambiguous" to "no, that is definitely a crush"? I'm pretty sure that line was crossed at multiple points in this story, but I'm sure some of you could tell that that was going to happen. There's a couple of really brief verbal innuendos and somebody gets called a pervert, but this chapter still isn't something that you'd get in trouble for if you were reading it at school during break or something.

The music started up again and couples began returning to the dance floor. Yuu stood awkwardly by himself, waiting for someone to approach him. He supposed it must be hard to be the first one. 

But someone did approach him not long after he thought that, asking, "May I have the honor of being your first dance partner?" 

Yuu smiled and held out his hand. "Just don't get mad if I step on your feet," he said as the other boy took the hand offered to him. 

He was smaller than Yuu - shorter - but took the lead with confidence, showing the prefect where to place his hands and guiding him through the steps. Yuu found that as long as he paid close attention, he could follow the other boy with ease. 

"I told you, didn't I?" he said. "You just need the right partner." 

Yuu laughed. "You were right," he admitted. 

The other boy hummed lightly before saying, “What an odd person you are.” 

“Where did _that_ come from?” Yuu asked. 

“I’ve been thinking it for a while,” he admitted. 

“Thanks?” 

“It isn’t a compliment,” the boy paused for a moment, “Though it isn’t an insult, either.” 

Yuu shrugged. “I’ll take it.” 

“Honestly though, I was shocked that you would the gall to show up here looking like Alice herself.” 

“Really? You didn’t seem to be, though.” 

“No, well...” he cleared his throat, “I had already seen you before you approached me.” 

“Ah, I see.” That did explain it. 

“Alice is an important historical figure, you know? Especially for those of us in Heartslabyul.” 

Yuu grew concerned. “Is it offensive that I’m dressed as her?” he asked. 

“Not particularly” the boy said, slowly raising the prefect’s hand above their heads to twirl him. “But very surprising.” 

The song was coming to a close and when the two let go of each other’s hands, Yuu curtsied once, trying to mimic the way he recalled Alice doing so in the movie. 

“It’s been a pleasure,” he told the other boy. 

Yuu didn’t get a chance to hear the boy’s reply, because no sooner had the music stopped, did he feel himself being grabbed by the shoulders and turned around to face someone else, significantly taller this time. 

"You know, I really can't stand it when people from other dorms get to have you to themselves," the second guy said. "So, I'm taking my turn now~" 

"O-okay," Yuu replied as the next song started. 

This dance went far less smoothly than his first. His partner this time was impulsive, changing directions and twirling Yuu around seemingly at random rather than following any particular set of steps. Several times, the first year stumbled and fell against the taller boy's chest before having to quickly right himself again because the other wasn't stopping for him. 

It was a spontaneous dance that Yuu felt _could_ be fun if he was more experienced in dancing and not blindfolded. As things stood, it was just tiring. 

Feeling two strong hands grip his waist, Yuu spoke harshly to the other boy, " _Don't_ pick me up! Don't you dare-" 

"Up~!" the other boy said, lifting Yuu and spinning with seemingly little effort. 

It was a relief when the song ended, but the taller boy didn't let Yuu go right away, instead dragging him over to the edge of the dance floor to hand him off to someone else. 

“It was fun, we should do that again sometime~ Your turn, now!" he said as he placed Yuu's hand into that of the third boy of the evening, who seemed similar in height to the second. 

"Please be gentle with me," Yuu joked as the next song started up. 

"Of course," the boy replied easily, leading Yuu in a considerably more manageable fashion. "Have I ever been otherwise?" 

"I feel like you don't want me to answer that," the first year said. 

"Now whatever would give you that idea? Can you name a single time when I've not been gentle with you?" 

Yuu felt like he should be able to easily come up with something, but was forced to realize that the other was technically correct. The emphasis on technically; he had never _physically_ been rough with Yuu specifically . 

"I don't like this game," Yuu declared, earning a small chuckle before he was unexpectedly dipped for a moment. 

"But I do," the other told him. "I like it very much." He slowed as the song came to an end. "And so, I'll have to insist that we play again sometime." 

The boy lifted Yuu's hand higher and the first year could feel something soft brush against the back of it. He turned red when he realized the other was kissing his hand. 

"You wish!" he yelled as the boy retreated, leaving alone him on the dance floor. But he wasn't alone for long. 

A fourth boy took his hand as the next song began. "Hey, dance with me for a bit," he said. 

"Um, yes," Yuu replied, getting himself back under control. "Of course." 

For the most part, the two of them just swayed gently throughout the song, with the other occasionally saying, "Turn~" before spinning Yuu around with no further warning and laughing when he yelped the first time. 

"So, you having fun tonight?" he asked. 

"A bit," Yuu admitted. "By the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask since earlier..." 

"Mn?" 

"You know, I ended up getting that special medal, but Grim swore the one he picked up was gold and blue." The first year prefect smiled. "You wouldn't happen know anything about that, _would you_ , Senpai?" 

"I have _no_ idea what you're talking about~" he replied, quickly whirling Yuu around with absolutely no warning. 

"I should probably thank you though," Yuu said after regaining his footing "For real. I don't think I would've ever got to experience something like this otherwise.” 

"Like I said," the other boy began, "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do you any favors, I was just playing a prank. So, you don't gotta thank me or anything like that." 

"And here I was going to offer to buy you dinner." 

"Well, you should thank me a _little_ ~!" the guy amended immediately, both himself and Yuu sharing a laugh as the song came to an end. 

"I'm holding you to that, you know!" he said as he let go of Yuu's hand and started backing away from him. "Dinner date, you and me - _your_ treat!" 

Yuu made a shooing motion towards him, but he was still smiling. 

The fifth boy to approach him for a dance took his hand a bit awkwardly, not saying much before they started dancing. 

"Silent movie?" Yuu asked. "I don't even get a hint about who you might be?" 

"Shut up," the other mumbled. 

"Oh, there it is," the prefect said with a grin. "I'm surprised that you'd dance with me. I could have sworn you said there would be no point in dancing with another guy." 

"I don't think your current outfit qualifies you as a guy," the boy said replied, and Yuu could practically _hear_ his grin. 

"I think I will step on your foot on purpose~" Yuu told him in a sweet voice before doing exactly that. 

_"Ow!_ Jeez, you make a crappy girl too!" 

Yuu frowned. "Listen," he began, "you know I love you, but you’re incorrigible!" 

There was a long stretch of silence where the two just lazily moved along to the sound of the music. 

"You always say stuff like that," the other boy sighed eventually. 

Yuu wanted to ask what he meant, but the song was coming to a close and the boy dropped his hand and left him alone on the floor before he got the chance. 

The sixth boy placed a hand on Yuu's back before anything else, forcefully correcting his posture with a quiet sigh of, "I can't watch this anymore." 

When he took Yuu’s hand, he gave the first year three very simple instructions, "Head up, back straight, and follow my lead." 

"Yes, sir!" Yuu replied with a smile as the next song began. 

Dancing with this boy was much like dancing with the first, smooth and easy, though he wasn't gentle about correcting Yuu when he made a wrong step. Regardless, the experience and confidence the other boy had in dancing was clear. 

"Are you sure it's fine for you to dance with me?" Yuu asked at one point during the song. "I was sure there would be plenty of people who want to be your partner." 

"Of course, there are," the other said. "I've had to plan out who I would dance with and in what order well ahead of today." 

"Oh, so I was part of your plan then~" Yuu smiled happily. 

"At some point later in the evening" he replied, sounding a bit annoyed at having to change his plan around. "But considering that you're the star of the show tonight, I couldn't keep watching you slump around the dance floor like you were." 

"Ah," Yuu said quietly. He was pretty sure the intention behind the statement wasn't malicious, but it took the wind out of his sails a bit. "Well, I always appreciate your guidance, Senpai." 

"Of course, you do." 

As the song ended, the other boy dipped Yuu backwards, practically draping the first year over his arm for a moment. Yuu made a mental note to ask Cater if he managed to get a picture of that pose later on. 

"I won't find fault in you trying your best," the boy said, so quietly that Yuu couldn't even be sure he'd really said it. "So, keep working on it!" he added, louder. 

"Yes, sir!" Yuu said cheerfully as the other walked away. 

The seventh boy approached without Yuu even hearing him, making the prefect jump when the other took both of his hands. 

“You seem to be enjoying yourself this eve,” he said, giving the first year’s hands a squeeze before leading him in a dance as the next song began playing. 

“I am, actually,” Yuu admitted, smiling as he realized the identity of the other boy. “I was kind of nervous about it, but it’s been fun so far.” 

“Oh? That is wonderful to hear,” the boy replied. “If anyone were to be untoward with you, it would create problems.” He paused for a moment before darkly adding, “ _Many_ problems.” 

Yuu laughed awkwardly, choosing to interpret that as a joke. 

The other boy’s movements were not what one would call wild, but rather whimsical; seemingly doing whatever felt fun to him rather than following a strict set of steps. Still, despite that and despite his small stature, Yuu found it incredibly easy to dance with him. He felt like he was gliding across the room with the other, almost like his feet weren’t even touching the floor. 

_‘Wait...’_ Now that he thinks about it, it really does feel like his feet aren’t touching the floor. More like he was stepping on thin air. _Were_ his feet actually not touching the floor!? He looked down despite not actually being able to see. 

And then, he did feel the ground under his feet the next time he took a step following the other boy. 

“Is something the matter?” the boy asked. 

Yuu took a moment before raising his head again, remembering to straighten up. “No,” he replied. “I think the blindfold is getting to me.” 

“I see,” the other boy hummed, sounding a bit concerned. “Be careful not to push yourself too hard.” 

Yuu nodded, and the next time he stopped feeling the floor beneath him, he ignored it. No one around them seemed to notice anything was off, so it was likely just his mind playing tricks on him. Even if they _were_ somehow floating, he trusted that the other wouldn’t let him fall. 

He felt his feet come back in contact with the ground when the song ended and his partner gave his hands another squeeze, this one a bit firmer than before. 

“This sort of event is something I enjoy greatly,” he admitted. “If we ever have another chance, I would like to dance with you for longer someday.” 

“Sure,” Yuu replied with a warm smile, squeezing the other’s hands in return. “Dance with me anytime, Senpai.” 

Two things happened after they let go of each other’s hands, almost simultaneously: firstly, someone yelled from across the dance floor, “Yuu! I want that dance now!”; secondly a _different_ person took Yuu’s hand as the next song started up. 

“Oh!” Yuu said in surprise, before shouting back in the other guy’s general direction, “Sorry, you can have me after he’s done!” He paused for a beat before sighing, “That came out wrong.” 

“I can guarantee you, he didn’t notice,” the eighth boy to dance with Yuu replied. 

“You did though,” Yuu pointed out. “And that’s bad enough.” 

“True, but I kind of like how it sounded.” 

The first year laughed. “What? That he can’t have a turn until _you’re_ finished with me? Are you kidding?” 

“Well now,” the other began, turning Yuu halfway before using the prefect’s own arm stretched across his chest to hold him in place, “you’re the one who said it like that, not me.” 

“You are _so_ petty Senpai,” Yuu told him, making sure the other could hear the eye roll in his tone. 

“And you’re as cheeky as ever,” the boy replied, loosening his hold on Yuu and allowing him to complete the turn. 

“That’s my endearing character trait,” the first year proclaimed. “The fact that people like me is the only reason I’m still alive.” 

The other boy hummed in thought. “That may be truer than you know,” he said. 

“Should I be worried?” Yuu asked. 

“Probably. Trouble seems to have a way of finding you.” 

“That’s true,” the first year agreed. “Once, all I did was walk into the kitchen at an awkward time, and someone _still_ decided to drag me into the huge mess he was about to make.” 

“You still aren’t letting that go, huh?” the other asked. 

“Absolutely not,” Yuu confirmed with a grin as the song concluded. He could already hear someone else running over toward them. 

“Hey,” said the guy who had yelled across the floor earlier, “don’t you think you’ve been a little _too_ bold lately!?” 

“I apologize if it seemed that way,” the other said as he stepped back from Yuu. “He’s all yours now.” 

“C’mon,” Yuu urged, blindly reaching out to his ninth partner for the evening with both hands. “Let’s have fun.” 

Almost immediately, the boy grasped the hands the first year had extended. “Yeah! Let’s dance!” 

In terms of having fun, dancing with this boy was perhaps the greatest success of the evening – the smile didn’t fade from Yuu’s face for a single moment during the whole song. In terms of literally anything else? A complete disaster. 

The first year stumbled into the other so many times as he failed to communicate with words or body language when he was planning to turn or which direction he was going to step in. A few times, the other boy stepped on Yuu’s feet as they both stepped forward instead of one of them stepping backwards. 

“I’m so sorry,” Yuu said, red-faced but laughing. “I swear I would be better at this if I could see you!” 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it!” he replied, also laughing. “But if you wanna prove it, you should come to one of my parties sometime!” 

“I’ll think about it!” 

“Huh? What’s to think about? Just say yes!” the boy urged, holding on a little tighter to both of Yuu’s hands before he started to run in a quick circle, pulling the first year along.

If Yuu was disoriented before, now he barely knew up from down as his feet moved quickly to keep up as the spinning continued. 

“Say you’ll come~!” his partner insisted, holding the first year captive to the spinning until he got the answer that he wanted. 

“Oh-” Yuu had to take a moment to get his head on straight. “Okay! I’ll come to the next one!” 

“And you’ll dance with me while you’re there!” the other added. 

“Yes!” Yuu laughed. “I’ll dance with you! Now, please slow down a little!” 

When the spinning stopped, it felt like being in a car that had suddenly slammed on the breaks and Yuu fell against the other boy. 

“Happy?” the prefect asked. 

“It’s a promise!” 

Yuu sighed as he slowly started trying to right himself. “You’re very dangerous sometimes, Senpai. I don’t think you realize just how hard it is to say no to you.” 

“Is that a compliment?” his partner asked. “Thank you!” 

Yuu just smiled, as the song started to fade out. “Sure,” he said. He didn’t have a problem with the other thinking it was a compliment. 

“Hey, hey~” said a new voice as someone approached. “Mind if I have Alice-chan for the next dance?” 

“Sure!” Yuu was quickly handed off to the tenth boy of the evening. “Have fun~!” 

“We will~” the new boy assured him before addressing Yuu. “Shall we, _Alice-_ _chan_ _~_?” he asked. 

“Oh, uh, yes,” Yuu replied, head still reeling a bit. “Go slow, please?” 

“Of course, of course~” the other assured him. “We’ll stop if it hurts!” 

“Senpai, please,” the prefect sighed. “I can only straight man so much in one evening.” 

The response provoked a bout of laughter from the other boy. “Don’t be modest, Alice-chan~ I’m sure you could keep going for a while still.” 

“Honestly, I’m feeling like I need a break though,” Yuu said. This was his tenth consecutive dance in a row and he was starting to feel it. 

“You seemed like you’re enjoying it though,” his partner pointed out, keeping true to his word and keeping their pace slow to give Yuu a bit of a rest. “That big smile and those flushed cheeks? Super cute, you know~” 

“Senpai, you sound like a dirty old man,” Yuu intoned. 

“You’re so cold, Alice-chan... I love it~” 

“Now you just sound like a run-of-the-mill pervert,” the first year said, laughing a little. “But you’re right, I am having fun.” 

“Good, good~” The boy pulled Yuu in a bit closer to whisper to him. “Because I think there are still plenty of people waiting for a turn~” 

Yuu groaned. “Can’t I tap out after this?” 

“Nope~!” 

“Boo.” The prefect pouted a bit. 

“At least you know you’ll sleep great later,” the other said. 

“Depending on how many more people come over, I might need to pass out for a couple of days.” 

His partner chuckled a bit, going from slow to standing still as the song began to close out. 

“Well, hang in there, Alice-chan~!” he said, giving the first year a squeeze on the shoulder. 

“I’ll do what I can,” Yuu replied, making a shooing motion with his hand. 

Maybe Yuu was getting a bit too used to people just grabbing him without asking, because he was a little surprised when the eleventh boy to approach him asked, “Would you do me the honor of a dance?” and it took the prefect a moment to answer. That may also have partially been because he hadn’t heard the other approaching at all. 

“Ah, yes,” he said finally, holding his hand out. “Of course.” 

As the boy took his hand and began leading him in the next dance, Yuu felt his partner’s other hand playing with the ends of his hair. 

“Impressive that you managed to tame the savage hair beast from earlier all on your own,” he said. 

Yuu blanched. “Y-you saw that?!” he exclaimed, and then immediately thought, _‘Of course he saw that, idiot – who do you think you’re talking to right now?’_

“But of course!” the other replied. “You know who you’re talking to, yes?” He kindly left out the part where Yuu had called himself an idiot while seemingly reading his thoughts. 

“Of course,” Yuu replied with a tiny smirk. “I intend to win, after all. I didn’t keep dancing for this long just to turn my brain off.” 

“Ah, magnificent!” his partner replied, turning the both of them around before increasing the tempo of his steps. “Just as I would expect from you.” 

The prefect was taken off-guard, trying to keep pace and somehow feeling like he was being forced back with each step, not dancing but _retreating_. He scowled, stepping forward against the direction the other was leading him in, one foot coming down hard between the other boy’s feet.

“You’re challenging me? Even with your current handicap?” 

Yuu grinned with what was definitely too many teeth to look friendly. “Well, you never know if you don’t try, right?” 

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the first year was turned around again. 

“Of course, it’s always seemlier for you to try than to not,” the other boy agreed, putting Yuu back on the defensive as he resumed the lead. “In your case, it would be wise to judge your opponent more cautiously, however.” 

_‘Are we dancing or brawling?’_ Yuu wondered, giving in and letting his partner dictate their pace for the remainder of the song. 

“Thank you for letting me monopolize your time for that lovely little moment,” the boy said when the music had stopped. 

Yuu felt his hand being pulled out towards the other before he could feel the boy’s breath ghost against the back of it. _‘Oh gosh,’_ he thought, feeling his face heating up, _‘that’s twice in one night.’_ But his hand was not actually kissed this time, it stopped simply at the gesture. 

“A-anytime,” he found himself saying. 

“Oh? I will hold you to that.” 

“Please don’t,” the prefect groaned before giving a little smile and a shrug. He wouldn’t really mind it, after all. 

Yuu’s twelfth dancing partner for the game was similarly polite and didn’t grab him without asking. Truly, the bar for common courtesy had never been lower, he realized.

“Would you give me your hand, please?” the boy asked, simply. 

Yuu shrunk back in the opposite direction, clutching both of his hands to his chest. “You can hold it, but I’m not _giving_ it to you, okay?” he said, voice laced with suspicion. 

“You- What would I even do with only your hand?” 

The first year shrugged. “You’re a smart guy,” he said, “I’m sure you could figure something out.” He held his hand out for the other as the next song started up. 

“Honestly,” the boy said, taking the offered hand before stepping closer, “hearing the way you speak to me sometimes, people would think that you don’t like me. ” 

“I like you,” Yuu told him. 

“Really, now?” he asked, sounding like he didn't believe that in the slightest.

“I _like_ you,” he repeated, “I just don’t _trust_ you. Since coming to this world, I’ve learned that there’s a big difference.” 

“I will agree that those are two very different things,” the other admitted, leading the first year in their dance with the stilted movements of someone not used to dancing. 

“First time?” Yuu asked. 

“I’ve... practiced,” he replied, somewhat defensively. 

_‘Oh, with yourself I bet,’_ Yuu thought. He didn’t say it though, he wasn’t so mean that he would say that to someone. At least not to someone other than Ace. He would absolutely say it to Ace. 

“Let me try something,” he said instead, adjusting the positions of their hands. “Just turn us for me if we’re about to hit anybody.” With those words, Yuu took the lead as smoothly as he could manage, which left a lot to be desired since he was blindfolded and tired out, but at least now they were actually moving. 

“You are not helping,” his partner told him, annoyance seeping into his voice. “This is... very difficult to do at your pace, and backwards no less.” 

“Oh yeah?” Yuu asked, smiling broadly. “Try doing it blindfolded next time.” 

“I believe I’ll pass on that.” 

“Probably for the best,” Yuu agreed. 

Somehow, they managed not to bump into any other people, and Yuu only backed his partner up into a table once. The first year prefect considered that an absolute win. 

“Any chance I could get the day off tomorrow for my stellar performance?” he asked as the song faded out, not expecting a favorable reply. 

Which was good because he didn’t receive one. “I will see you tomorrow for your scheduled shift,” the other boy told him. His words weren’t inviting any arguments on the matter. 

“Stingy!” It had been worth a shot, at least. 

The idea that over a dozen different people would want to dance with him made Yuu feel very loved, but also very confused. Such were his thoughts when the thirteenth boy approached him. 

“Hey,” Yuu’s new partner said awkwardly. 

“Hiya!” he replied, reaching out blindly for the other until he found and grasped his arm. “So glad you could join me!” 

“Don’t get it wrong!” the boy growled, while still wrapping his arms around the prefect nonetheless. “I don’t really wanna dance, but... It’s just getting boring here with nothing else to do besides eat.” 

“Really? I’m glad you’re here though.” 

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” There was a long pause before the other boy added, “You are?” 

“Yup!” Yuu stepped closer to his partner, resting his small body against the other’s much broader one. “I’m tired.” 

“I’m not a bed!” 

Yuu laughed. “I know,” he said. “But I really do need a break. You mind if we just sort of sway back and forth like this for a bit?” 

“Sure,” his partner muttered. “I’m not really much of a dancer anyway.” 

“Thank you~” Yuu said, squeezing the other boy tightly. “I swear, if this night keeps going, I’m gonna end up like those bloody feet guys from the test of courage.” 

“That’s gross, don’t give me that kind of mental image.” 

A loud whistle cut through the room and a teasing voice yelled out from somewhere by the buffet tables, “Hey, leave enough room for Jesus, you two!” 

Before Yuu could so much as breathe, his partner had already pushed him to arm’s length. 

“I don’t think Jesus needs quite this much room,” the prefect said. 

“Shut up!” the other yelled at him. “Jesus can have as much room as he wants!” 

Yuu couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that, and he didn’t even manage to feel bad about it. 

When his giggles finally tapered off, his partner spoke up. “Are you done being an idiot?” he asked. 

“No,” Yuu replied, “but I’m not gonna laugh at you again.” 

“You are really... such a dork.” If that was the meanest thing that the other boy was able to muster up, then Yuu figured he wasn’t really angry at all. 

“Yeah, I love you too,” he replied. 

“Stop saying stuff like that! You say it _all_ the time!” 

Yuu hummed in thought. “You know,” he said, “you’re the second person to tell me that tonight.” 

“Then try _listening_ for a change!” the boy insisted. 

“No,” the prefect said stubbornly, childishly sticking his tongue out, “you suck.” 

“What!?” 

Yuu had said he wasn’t going to laugh again, but as it turned out, that had been a lie. He was still laughing when the song came to an end. 

“At least _somebody’s_ having fun tonight,” the other griped. 

“Yes, I am!” Yuu confirmed. “Thank you for providing my entertainment.” 

“Shaddup!” Yuu got a hard poke on the cheek before the boy left him. 

His fourteenth partner announced his presence by lightly touching one of his fingers to one of Yuu’s and simply saying, “Dance with me?” 

To which the first year smiled. “Of course,” he replied, slipping his hand into the other’s. 

Despite the dramatic and demanding beats of the song that began to play, the two of them moved comfortably at their own pace. 

“Tired?” the boy asked. 

“That obvious, huh?” Yuu chuckled. 

“Well...” the first year quietly waited for the other to continue his thought, “I had to do it last year.” 

“Oh, really? That’s interesting.” He tried to imagine it, his current partner having to dance with so many people. 

“It wasn’t bad. It was something to do.” 

“Yeah?” Yuu asked. “Good endurance training too, I bet.” 

He heard a small huff of laughter from the other boy. “That’s... one way to put it,” he said. “It kept me awake, at least.” 

“How many people did you end up having to dance with?” The prefect was wondering what the number would be on an average year, but realized after he’d asked that both the dorm the other boy came from and how pretty his face was could skew that number a bit in either direction.

“I think... about fifteen? Maybe a couple more, I stopped keeping track,” the boy admitted. 

“I take it you didn’t win the game, then,” Yuu joked. 

“Pops- No, Lilia-senpai was my third dance,” he said. “It was embarrassing, so I just stopped thinking about who was who after that.” 

“Really? I thought he was fun to dance with!” 

“You have a different kind of relationship with him than I do,” the other pointed out. 

“Point,” Yuu agreed. “Sorry you didn’t get to enjoy the game much.” 

“You mean like you are?” 

The prefect nodded. “Exactly! I’m still planning on winning this thing.” 

“... Weirdo,” There was a hint of affection in the boy’s tone. “Well, good luck then.” 

“Thank you!” Yuu smiled at him as the song slowed and came to an end. He hoped that if the other’s account was anything to go by, he would be done soon. 

He was alone on the floor for a little longer than the previous times. It gave him hope that that meant the number of people looking to dance with him was drying up. 

Though he still found himself perking up when a sweet voice called out to him, “Is it okay if we dance together?” 

Yuu could hear some people murmuring nearby, mostly things like, “Is that allowed?” but he ignored them, smiling kindly at his fifteenth dance partner this evening. 

“Of course,” he replied, holding his hands out to the other, fingers twitching a bit at the cold metal they felt when the boy took his hands before softly curling and entwining their fingers together. 

“I’ve never had the chance to do this before, you know,” his partner said with a soft giggle as the two of them held hands and took simple steps back and forth together. 

“Really?” Yuu asked. “But this isn’t your first year here, right?” 

“It’s the first year I convinced Brother to come,” he explained. 

“Ahh, yeah. I can see how that...” the prefect trailed off in thought before snapping back to attention. “Wait, you actually managed it this year!?” 

“Yes!” the boy sounded proud, and rightfully so in Yuu’s opinion. “We got here just a little while ago.” 

“Fashionably late, I see,” Yuu joked, earning more cute laughter from him. “Well, I hope you get to enjoy it for a while.” 

“Thank you,” the boy replied. “Everyone is dancing and eating and laughing... It looks like it will be a really fun time!” 

“That’s great!” 

“Although...” Yuu can feel the other squeeze his hands for a moment. “... your body temperature seems elevated and you have an accelerated heart rate indicative of someone who has been performing strenuous activity. Will you be fine?” 

The prefect had to resist the urge to hug him, he was just so sweet. “I’m okay,” Yuu assured him. “As somebody put it a little earlier, let’s just say that I’ll sleep _really_ well tonight and count it as a positive.”

“That’s a good way to look at it,” his partner agreed. “But don’t forget to drink plenty of fluids and sit down if you start to feel dizzy.” 

Yuu smiled, slowing his steps as the song came to an end. “I will. Thank you, and see if you can’t convince your brother to get over here sometime before the game ends.” That last part was a joke, but the boy seemed to take it seriously. 

“I planned to try,” he told the prefect. “But if you’re requesting it then I’ll give it a little extra push. I’ll do my best!” 

“Wait, I was- And, he’s gone.” Yuu sighed, giving a silent apology for the anxiety spike someone was surely about to experience. 

He didn’t have to think about it for too long though, as a sixteenth boy placed a hand on his shoulder to grab his attention. 

“Can I get you for a minute?” he asked, his voice making Yuu immediately spin around and grab his hand. 

“Yes!” the first year said. “Let’s dance, let’s do it. Right now.” 

“I can’t see your eyes, but would I be wrong in assuming they’re doing that sparkly thing?” 

“Can you blame me?” Yuu asked, scowling even as he allowed the other to lead him in the next dance. “You took a long time, Senpai! I was starting to think you weren’t even going to ask me to dance at all.” 

“Yes, yes,” the other said in a placating tone, “I’m sorry, alright? Now quit making that face, you’re making me look like a bad guy here.” 

The edges of the prefect’s mouth softened a bit and smoothed out slowly into a smile. 

“Say, Senpai,” he began, “who was the human for the game in your first year?” 

“Ah? Well, last year was-” 

“-I know who last year was,” Yuu interrupted. “But how about two years ago?” 

“It was Rook that year,” the other told him. “You can imagine how that went.” 

“Oh, he won for sure.” It wasn’t even a question in the prefect’s mind. “But huh, he didn’t mention it earlier. Weird.” 

“Did you ask?” his partner questioned. 

“Well, no...” Yuu admitted. 

“Then...” He didn’t need to finish. 

“Yeah, yeah – my own fault. Boo.” 

“Don’t you boo me,” the other boy scolded, taking his hand off of the first year’s back for a moment to gently flick his forehead, earning a yelp from him. 

“Hey, no fair!” he complained. “You can’t flick me when I can’t see!” 

“That hairband makes it such an easy target, though,” his partner replied through poorly stifled chuckles. 

“Rude.” 

“Okay, okay, don’t pout. Here, how about you finish whatever you were about to tell me earlier?” 

Yuu had to think for a moment before remembering that yes, they had been talking and got interrupted before he could finish his thought. 

“It wasn’t a big deal or anything,” he shrugged. “I’m happy here, that was all I was trying to say.” 

“I see,” the other said. “Good to know you’re not getting too homesick.” 

“I _do_ get homesick,” Yuu replied, “but I think once I go back, I’ll still be homesick.” 

“You’ll miss this place?” his partner asked. 

The prefect nodded. “I have people I love back in my world, and I have people I love here.” He recalled the exact words he had been trying to say when he’d been interrupted. “You know, I really love all the people here.” 

“All of them? That’s a bit much, even for you.” 

“At the very least, I love everybody I’ve danced with so far though,” Yuu amended. 

“Really, now?” The other boy sounded a bit awkward at being told that before teasingly asking, “Even though I could have sworn you were this close-” he pinched the tip of the first year’s nose so it could be felt how close together his fingers were, “-to throwing your shoe at Jade earlier.” 

“I considered it,” Yuu admitted, wrinkling his nose repeatedly until the other let go of it. “I decided it was a bad idea and settled on yelling.” 

“Good instinct.” 

“I mean, with my luck, I would have hit a teacher or something.” The first year shrugged. “But I love him too, you know? I just don’t _like_ him all the time.” 

“That’s confusing,” his partner said as the song ended and he released his hold on the prefect. 

“Maybe,” Yuu admitted, tilting his head in thought. “If it helps to know, I _usually_ like him?” 

“It really doesn’t,” the boy replied, sighing before Yuu felt a warm hand placed on his head. “Well, hang in there for the rest of the night.” 

“Yes, sir!” Yuu said, smiling widely at how comfortable the head pat made him feel.

Almost as soon as the other hand left, Yuu’s hand was grabbed again and he was pulled in close to someone else. 

“Hey, dance with me,” his seventeenth partner said simply. 

“No,” Yuu replied, trying to pull his hand back, causing the other’s grip on it to tighten. 

“ _Why_ _?_ I didn’t even do anything and you’re gonna be a little brat?” he sounded incredulous. 

“Yes,” the first year confirmed with a smile, though he relaxed in the other’s hold and allowed him to lead him as the next song came on. 

“You’re as obnoxious as always,” his partner grumbled, guiding him around the floor in a slow dance. 

“Oh, you’re actually pretty good at this!” 

“What do you sound surprised for?” the other’s voice was offended before turning cocky. “Did you forget who I am? Even I’ve had basic etiquette classes. Wouldn’t want me to embarrass the family, after all.” 

Yuu made a long “oh” sound, before he grinned and said, “So, you _do_ know how to behave, you just choose not to.” 

His partner barked out a harsh laugh. “I don’t want to hear that from a cheeky brat like you. Try showing your respect for your elders sometimes.” 

“Is there a reason you need to be respected just for being born before me?” Yuu asked, voice full of false innocence, as if he had no idea how much weight such a question held with his current partner. 

“If you weren’t in a dress right now, I would punch you,” was the reply he received. 

“Long Live Alice, then!” The first year prefect’s grin faded into a genuine smile before he added, “I _am_ glad you came over to dance with me though. Thank you, Senpai.” 

“You change from bratty to sweet too fast,” the other complained. “I never know what to do with you.” 

“But you still like me!” Yuu declared happily. 

“Hah. Says who?” He changed directions without indication, purposely causing Yuu to stumble. “I’m just looking for some entertainment tonight.” 

“Guess you must at least find me interesting then, right?” 

“You’re definitely not boring,” his partner admitted, sighing as if he were ceding ground to say so. 

“I’ll take it!” the first year said, knowing it was the closest thing to a compliment he was likely to wring out of the other. 

“So, what inspired the outfit choice?” He asked, sounding genuinely curious but also definitely changing the subject on purpose. 

“Too much time with Heartslabyul students,” Yuu replied, sounding serious despite that being a joke. “Not really. I just wanted something easy that made an impact.” 

“Impact is an understatement. One of my first year brats was drooling – a _lot._ ” 

“Gross!” Yuu declared cheerfully, his words and tone not matching even slightly. 

“I agree with you on that,” the other said. “But Ruggie got a picture of it, so he owns the kid for as long as he’s at this school. Somebody got something out of it at least.” 

“That’s a very pragmatic way to look at it,” the first year replied. “That’s also very gross.” 

Yuu was lightly smacked in the side of the head for his comment before the song started fading out. 

“Ow,” the first year complained quietly. 

“Don’t ‘ow’ at me, there’s no way that hurt.” 

“It still wasn’t very nice,” Yuu said, pouting. 

“If you’re expecting me to be nice, you’re more tired than you look.” He said that before making a questioning hum and going quiet for a moment. “Is that guy trying to come over here...?” he mumbled, apparently looking at someone who was still a ways away from them. 

“Hmm?” Yuu asked. 

“This should be interesting,” the other replied, not answering the first year any further than that and leaving him alone on the dance floor. 

Yuu was alone for longer than he’d expected to be. The opening notes of the next song had started playing before he felt a hesitant touch on his shoulder. 

“Hmm?” he questioned. 

“Hyeek!” the other quickly pulled back. “N- It’s nothing-” 

“Oh, okay,” Yuu replied. There was an awkward silence before the first year added, “Since you’re here, do you wanna dance?” 

“Wh- Me? But- No, I’m-” 

Yuu cut him off, blindly reaching out and grabbing on to his arm. “Come on, don’t make me just stand out here like an idiot after coming this far!” 

“So, I get to be the one who looks like an idiot instead,” the other muttered darkly while the first year strong-armed him into being his eighteenth dancing partner. 

“We can just move back and forth a little, it’ll be fine,” Yuu insisted. 

The other boy sighed. “You’re too high energy... Haven’t you been out here a while?” He reluctantly allowed Yuu to hold onto his arms and lead him in lazily taking steps from side to side. 

“Yeah,” the first year admitted, “but even if I get tired, I can still be happy, right?” He gave the other a smile, making him groan. 

“You... You’re way to bright tonight... It’s blinding,” his partner complained 

“Thank you!” 

“N-no, that was- … You're welcome.” He seemed to give up and go along with whatever Yuu wanted to think. Probably just because it was easier than trying to fight him. 

Yuu chuckled. “Good boy,” he teased. 

“Stop, just-” 

“No, I know,” the first year cut him off. “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to make fun of you. In fact, I’m really proud of you for coming over here. Or for coming to the party at all, I guess.” 

“E-e-even if you flatter me, I don’t- I’m not giving you anything!” the other boy insisted, getting even more flustered than he had previously been. 

“Hey, I’m being serious,” Yuu insisted. “Even if you had to be dragged into it, -” 

“I did have to be dragged into it,” he confirmed. 

“-it’s _still_ great that you came!” 

“The difficulty is too high,” his partner complained. 

“Isn’t it impressive if you clear a high difficulty map?” Yuu asked. 

“Don’t... N-now you’re going to expect me to do more Nightmare Mode missions...” 

“I don’t expect you to be able to do it all the time,” the first year told him. “Not even super often. But isn’t it fun to challenge yourself sometimes?” 

“Not really,” the other replied, almost instantly. 

“Know what? That’s fair.” 

The song ended a little too soon for Yuu’s liking, but that may have been because they hadn’t started dancing until a bit after it had started. 

“Aw, it’s over,” he said with disappointment.

“It’s over,” his partner sighed with relief at the same time. “Scene clear.” 

“Try replaying it sometime!” Yuu suggested. “it might be the kind of thing you like more on the second time through.” 

“Please... Just give me a break.” 

The first year sighed. “Fine, you pick the activity next time we hang out.” 

“... Thank you. I’m going back now.” He really did sound exhausted and Yuu waved goodbye to him as he left. As far as exhaustion went, the first year prefect was getting pretty close too. 

“Could I have this dance?” someone asked, the nineteenth boy to approach him that night. 

“I’m getting close to my limit,” Yuu admitted, “but you know I can’t say no to you.” He held out his hand in the other’s general direction. 

“Would you like to take it slower, then?” the boy asked, taking the prefect’s hand and pulling him closer to allow Yuu to rest his head on his shoulder. 

Yuu sighed in relief. “Thank you,” he said. “This is really...” Something occurred to him. “...weird, actually.” 

“These damn boots are good for somethin’ at least,” his partner replied, making the prefect laugh. 

“Maybe you should consider making them a permanent part of your wardrobe?” he suggested. 

“Absolutely not, no thank you,” the other boy replied, before adding, “No, let me rephrase that to make sure you don’t misunderstand: _hell_ no!” 

Yuu laughed even harder, still resting his head and just stepping in whatever direction his partner led him. 

“Honestly though,” the other began, “who thought up a crazy tradition like this?” 

“If you asked Trein-sensei, he could probably tell you,” the prefect pointed out. 

“Nah, not worth it.” An immediate response, making Yuu smile. 

“Didn’t think so,” he replied. “Say, if I pretended to pass out, would you carry me out of here so I could go lay down?” 

“If you’re actually serious, I guess.” 

“Nah, just wondering,” Yuu assured him. “You’re a good friend.” He could feel the way the other boy shook his head. 

“Nobody should be forced to do this kinda thing,” he said. 

“Don’t worry,” the prefect replied, “no one’s forcing me. And it’s nice to get a chance to dance with everybody like this.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Have you ever tried that line out on your dorm leader?” 

“I don’t wanna get slapped, stupid,” was the deadpan reply from the other boy. 

“Yeah, that _is_ what would happen, huh?” Yuu said thoughtfully. 

“You already knew that.” 

“Yeah, I totally knew that,” the prefect admitted. “But I was curious if you had said it before _you_ knew that.” 

“I can’t tell sometimes if you’re super nice or super mean,” his partner sighed. 

“Both,” Yuu replied. “Depends on the situation, same as anyone else.” 

“It ain’t so extreme with most folks, Mr. Personality,” the boy disagreed while giving the prefect a new nickname. 

Yuu laughed, rocking back and forth a little more before the song came to an end. Stepping back, he said, “Well, thanks for giving me a break.” 

“It was easier on me, too. Drink some juice once you get done with this gig.” 

The prefect gave him a smile. “I will, thanks.” 

Yuu ended up standing around for the length of an entire song, wondering how long he had to go without being offered a dance before he was allowed to take off the blindfold and sit down. 

As that song began to fade out, he could hear a few peoples’ voices at the edge of the dance floor. 

“Dude, hurry up and get over there!” one of them said, insistently. 

“But right now, -” Another started before immediately being interrupted by a third. 

“If you don’t ask him soon, you’ll lose your chance.” 

A fourth immediately chimed in, “Alice-chan would be so sad if you didn’t even go over and say hi, you know?” 

“... fine,” the second voice said quietly, sounding resigned to his fate of becoming partner number twenty. 

When he did approach Yuu, he took the fourth boy’s advice perhaps a bit too literally. “Hi,” he said awkwardly. 

“Hey!” Yuu replied. “Glad to see you come over.” 

“You can see through that?” the other asked, shock apparent in his voice. 

Yuu was so tempted to tell him “yes,” but that would have been mean, so he told the truth. “No, I just meant it as a figure of speech.” 

The prefect held out a hand. “We’re going to dance, right?” 

“What?” the other boy sounded honestly bewildered. “But I’ve never danced with someone before! And... a lot of people are watching. It’s making me nervous.” 

“Yeah, how do you think _I’ve_ felt all night?” Yuu asked, stretching his hand out more insistently. 

“Of course, yes. You’re right. This must be even harder on you.” 

“If you really think that,” the prefect began, a frown forming on their face, “then do me a favor and dance!” 

“... Yes.” A slightly meek response, the reply of a man who knew he wasn’t being given a choice in the matter. 

Yuu smiled when the other boy took his hand, stepping closer to him. “We don’t need to do anything much,” he assured him. 

“Thanks, but... it’s just a little awkward to be so close to you when you’re dressed like that,” his partner admitted. 

“Really?” Yuu asked. “Even though you know I’m a guy?” 

“I know you are!” the other confirmed. “At least, in my head, I know it. But you still don’t look like it, so...” 

“Exposure therapy then,” the prefect stated, stepping even closer, and closer again when his partner backed up. 

“Do we have to do it like this?” he asked. 

“Yes,” Yuu replied. “You win if you can hug me by the time the song ends. If you chicken out, then you lose.” 

“Wh-when did it become this kind of game!?” the boy asked. 

“I decided just now.” 

“You...” he sighed. “So, it’s just a whim of yours.” 

Yuu shrugged. “Isn’t tonight a good evening for fun and whimsy?” 

His partner didn’t have a rebuttal, instead stepping even closer. “I still feel bad for not noticing when you got grabbed earlier, so I’ll go along with it this time,” he relented. 

“Yay~” The prefect took a half step closer, leaving only the smallest amount of space between their bodies. 

“At least you’re still having fun,” the other boy said. “Don’t your feet hurt at all?” 

“Oh, they hurt like a bitch,” Yuu told him with a wry smile. “But there’s no way there can be too many more people here looking to dance with the weirdo human with no magic, so I can hang in there for at least a little bit longer.” 

“Don’t talk about yourself like that, Yuu,” his partner replied. “Even if it’s true, you shouldn’t phrase it like that.” 

“That was super sweet until you added the second sentence.” 

“What? Did I say something wrong?” he asked. 

“Nope!” Yuu laughed. “It was very like you, and I know what you meant, so thank you.” 

“Well, even besides that...” the boy began, placing one hand shakily on Yuu’s shoulder. “... you- Tonight, you look really cute, so...” 

Yuu was so ready to tease him, but the boy quickly placed his other hand on the prefect’s other shoulder and pulled him in the rest of the way for a tight hug. 

“So, I’m sure a lot of people are interested in you for that,” he finished as the song began to fade out, making the prefect’s face flush a light pink color. Yuu’s only saving grace was knowing that the other was almost definitely blushing even harder. 

“WHAT THE FUCK, CAN HE DO THAT!?” one of the other voices from before yelled. 

“Hey, hey - language!” 

Yuu’s partner quickly released his shoulders. “I should go,” he said. 

“Hey, wait-” But the prefect could already hear the other’s steps quickly retreating. 

“Hey, man, quick question,” he could hear the person who had shouted say, “what the hell was that?” 

_‘It surely was a thing that happened,’_ Yuu thought to himself. At least, he figured that would be the last time he was truly taken off-guard that evening. 

He was proved wrong almost immediately, not by the fact that a twenty-first boy approached him, but by _how_ he was approached. 

“Allow me to make it perfectly clear that I have no interest in dancing with you, nor any other human!” the boy said. 

“Okay...” Yuu replied carefully. _‘So, why are you here, exactly?’_ was left unspoken 

“HOWEVER!” the other continued, voice booming loud enough that Yuu was certain anyone who hadn’t been looking at them surely was now. “As the Young Master has expressed an interest in it, I would be remiss in my duties if I did not first make sure that you were a suitable and safe partner!” 

“I don’t mind dancing with you,” the prefect said, “but if that’s all you want, I've already danced with two other people from-” 

“Hmph! You think you’re being so smart, don’t you?” The boy sounded a bit smug now himself, as if he was seeing through some kind of trick. “But it was Master Lilia himself who told me I should dance with you to be certain!” 

_‘Lilia-senpai, what kind of prank are you pulling on this naïve soul?’_ Yuu wondered, giving a sigh. 

“Well,” the prefect began, “let’s see if I’m up to your standards then.” He offered his hand to the other boy. 

“Oh, not running away?” the boy asked, firmly grasping his hand and placing his other arm around the prefect’s back, while Yuu placed his on the boy’s shoulder. “You’re braver than your appearance suggests!” 

“I would have to be at least this brave to have gotten your master’s attention, wouldn’t I?” Yuu asked. 

“Don’t be so cocky!” Ah, he was scolded. “You’re still only a meager human, after all.” 

Yuu had expected dancing with this partner to be a disaster, but was surprised to find it was rather pleasant. While the other’s movements were a bit stiff, his steps were very uniform and easy to follow just by paying enough attention. Though the result was that the prefect’s movements were about equally as stiff. 

“Is dance practice a part of your training?” Yuu asked him. 

“Of course not!” His partner sounded offended at the notion. “How would practicing dancing assist in protecting the Young Master?” 

“Well...” Yuu wondered for a moment if he should point it out before just going for it. “Like right now, for instance – you're dancing with me as a part of your duties, aren’t you? Or was that a lie?” 

“Are you trying to accuse me of lying about my duties!? I won’t let that slide!” 

“No, listen-” the prefect began. 

“Just the mere thought that I would leave the Young Master’s side, shirking my duties to dance with a _human_ , of all things-!” 

“I didn’t say that,” Yuu sighed. “I was just pointing out that this is a case where knowing how to dance is a part of your duties.” 

The other boy sounded more than a little suspicious when replying, “And clearly, I already know how! What point would there be in practicing it further?” 

“I’ve been dancing all night,” Yuu told him, “and let me tell you, great stamina training! Helps with general coordination too, which would be useful in any fight.” 

“I can see how that would be true,” his partner admitted reluctantly. “But how efficient is it when compared to other forms of training? If it takes longer for similar results, then there’s still no point!” 

_‘Oh, this guy’s really annoying,’_ Yuu thought. Not even because he was wrong – he was actually right if you were only thinking about physical training, but... ‘ _Oh, that’s it!’_

“I’ll need to get back to you on the efficiency,” the prefect admitted. “But on top of the physical stuff, it’s also great mental training!” 

“Ho? And how is that?” 

“Concentration, spatial awareness, the ability to accurately anticipate another person's movements, the ability to keep your cool in front of a large crowd of people,” Yuu listed things off one by one. “Dancing is a test of all of those things. Isn’t _that_ enough to make it useful to practice?” 

“I’d never thought much about it,” the other boy admitted. “To think that there was such meaning in an action I’d previously thought to be frivolous... Clearly, my training is still very incomplete if I couldn’t see something that even a human easily pointed out!” 

“Um, don’t beat yourself up about it,” Yuu said, trying to be reassuring. “We’re young, so we’re both still learning.” 

“I dislike being compared to you,” he said, “but it’s true that you saw something I could not... As expected from a human capable of catching the Young Master’s attention!” The boy was shouting again. “Obviously, you could be no ordinary human!” 

“Yeah,” Yuu replied, feeling even more tired as he listened to the other boy. “Actually, I think this will be my first time meeting him. I can’t imagine why he’d want to dance with me.” 

“Worry not!” his current partner assured him, seemingly having changed his attitude towards the prefect now. “There can be no flaws in the Young Master’s judgement! If he wishes to dance with you, then you have surely done something to be deserving of such!” 

Weirdly, that actually did make Yuu feel good. “Thanks,” he replied, giving a small smile. “And thanks for the dance, also.” 

“Hmph! There’s no need to _thank_ me! I’ve simply been performing my duties as I should!” 

“That may be true,” the prefect admitted, removing his hands from the other boy as the song came to a close, “but it was kind of nice, so I’m thanking you anyway. As a compliment for being fun to dance with.” 

“As a...?” He sounded confused for a moment, before yelling in a flustered tone. “There’s no merit in being complimented by a human! Even if you’ve managed to gain the attention of the Young Master for a brief moment, that’s still all it is! Don’t get carried away, understand!?” 

“Y-yes...” Yuu replied. “Understood.” 

It was another interaction to be filed under _“Stuff That Happened”_. 

A lot of the pleasant chatter in the cafeteria stopped as Yuu’s twenty-second partner began making his way over. He could _feel_ couples vacating the dance floor in hurried steps. 

“Wait, no way, seriously?” somebody said, their voice carrying through the suddenly quiet room. 

“That guy actually showed up?” another asked. “He didn’t come during the last two years!” 

Yuu swallowed, nervously tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. He was fairly sure that he’d never met this person before, and while he didn’t want to judge the guy based on what other people had said, being approached by such a person was still a bit intimidating. 

Even if he couldn’t see, he felt the presence of the other once he got close. Both of them simply stood there in silence for a moment, before Yuu cleared his throat awkwardly. 

“Uh, it’s nice to meet you,” he said, doing a brief curtsy. “It’s kind of weird, being blindfolded while meeting somebody for the first time.” An attempt at a joke, though neither of them laughed. 

The first year jumped slightly when he felt something soft touch his face – a piece of cloth? The other boy was patting his face with it. It took Yuu a moment before he realized that he was wiping the sweat from his face. With a handkerchief, most likely, but Yuu couldn’t really be sure as he couldn’t see. 

“Oh! Thank you,” he said, giving the other a smile. 

There was still no reply. It didn’t seem as if this person had any intention of speaking to him. Once he seemingly deemed the first year’s face to be dry enough, the cloth was put away and there was another awkward moment where nothing happened. 

Breaking their stalemate, Yuu reached out his hand. “Shall we?” he asked, a kind smile on his face. 

He could swear that he heard a small huff of laughter before the other took his hand and the music which had previously stopped, began to play again. 

Yuu’s first thought as the other led him in a slow, almost romantic waltz was, _‘Wow, this guy is tall!’_ Taller than most people he knew for sure. Possibly the tallest person he’d met at this school, though he could think of one student who might give him a run for his money. 

Speaking of that student, it was a bit disappointing that he never came over for a dance. But the first year knew that he disliked loud places with lots of people, so he couldn’t be mad about it. It would surely have been a nice experience though. 

“The fact that you to wanted to dance with me,” Yuu began, speaking since no one else in the entire room appeared willing to do so, “how should I put this? It’s flattering, I suppose.” 

Silence. 

Trying again, the first year said, “Even if it’s just because I look like a girl tonight. I’m a guy, just to be clear!” 

Silence. 

“Though, I guess Ace does tell me I look like a girl most of the time, anyway. Oh, Ace is my best friend. He’s a first year from Heartslabyul. You have a best friend, right? Oh yeah, isn’t Lilia-senpai the vice-dorm leader? Is he your best friend, maybe?” He was just babbling now, sounding like an idiot while trying to get the other to say something, _anything_ really. 

“I have few friends,” his partner finally spoke. He spoke quietly and sounded a bit strained, almost like he was trying to put on a certain kind of voice and not quite succeeding. “My best friend is someone very special - to the entire school, but even more so to me.” 

“Yeah, I bet!” Yuu agreed, happy that he was able to somehow spark a conversation. “I don’t really know the details, but you’re a really powerful and important person, right? So, your best friend would have to be an amazing guy!” 

“He’s failed to realize it himself, however,” the other added. 

“Yeah, that’s how it always is,” the first year nodded. “A lot of the most incredible people really have no idea how special they are. It’s a shame.” 

“Yes, it is,” he agreed. 

“Make sure you tell him sometimes, okay?” 

“I will be sure to do that.” Yuu could hear a bit of a smile in the other boy’s voice and his own face lit up happily. 

When the song ended, Yuu gave another curtsy. “Thank you for the dance,” he said. “It was nice.” 

In response, the boy’s hand touched the side of the first year’s head, petting his hair gently before he pulled away and left him alone once again. 

After that, couples did start to slowly return to the dance floor, but Yuu was not approached by anyone else, and after two more songs had gone by, Crowley declared the game to be over. 

Yuu immediately tore the blindfold off, wincing at the lights and walking a bit unsteadily towards where he could see Ace and Deuce, the former with an overstuffed Grim sleeping on his shoulder. 

“That was fun,” he said once he reached them. 

“Yeah? You look kinda wobbly,” Ace told him. “Are you okay?” 

“Mm, yeah,” Yuu replied. “Just do me a favor?” 

“What is it?” 

“... Catch me,” the prefect said before promptly passing out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory mention that Yuu still only knows Malleus as "Tsunotarou" and Malleus is actively trying to keep it that way.
> 
> So, now that Yuu's game has ended, _your_ game begins. Try to guess the full list of who danced with Yuu and in what order. I feel that the hints are all extremely easy, so don't worry too much about any misdirection - there is none. (edit from earlier: Decided it was silly to hold the last chapter hostage until someone got it right. Just play for fun if you want and the chapter will be out sometime this week.)


	5. Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuu awakens in the infirmary with some familiar faces and gets filled in on a few things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really just a quick way to wrap up the story. The results of the game and some more character banter are the only things of particular note, but leaving it on chapter 4 just wasn't an option in my mind.

When Yuu awoke next, groaning quietly as his eyes slowly fluttered open, he realized he was in a bed before he took in anything else. 

“Wha-?” he asked, still shaking off the remnants of unconsciousness. 

“He’s awake!” someone yelled, making the prefect wince from the noise. 

Pressing his hands to his eyes, Yuu rubbed at them before trying to take a look around. Someone must have carried him to the infirmary after he collapsed. He’d have to thank whoever it was later. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Now that he could take in his environment, Yuu could see several familiar faces had come along to check on him. Currently, it was Deuce who leaned over his bedside with a concerned expression. 

“My feet hurt,” the prefect replied, scrunching up his toes and realizing someone had removed not only his shoes, but his stockings as well. He made a mental note to figure out who was responsible for doing _that_. 

“I bet,” Jack said, leaning against the wall nearby. “I’ve seen worse, but you got some ugly blisters tonight.” 

Yuu breathed a small sigh of relief that it was at least still “tonight”. 

“Hey,” Ace said, leaning over on the side of the bed opposite where Deuce was, “how many fingers am I holding up?” 

Yuu looked at him for a long moment, squinted for a longer moment and then weakly reached out to give him a shove in the chest. 

“Zero, you jackass,” he replied. 

“Alright, he’s fine!” the other concluded with a grin. “We can pack it in for the night.” 

“Hey, Yuu!” the prefect smiled a bit as Grim scampered up his chest to get a good look at his face. “What happened to you? Why did you just pass out like that?” 

“I’m more out of shape than I thought I was,” Yuu joked. “Vargas-sensei would be disappointed for me to pass out after only... huh. How long was it, anyway?” He realized he didn’t know. 

“In your defense,” Deuce began gently, “it was a little over two hours and it was your first time.” 

“That’s what she said,” Ace replied, earning a vicious glare from both Jack and Deuce. 

“Maybe she did, but definitely not to you,” Yuu told his friend with a crooked grin as he pushed himself up onto his elbows to get a better look around. Aside from the people he’d already seen, Epel was standing close to the foot of the bed and – surprisingly – Lilia was sitting on the doctor’s desk. 

“Somebody help me sit up?” the prefect asked, wanting to at least try to prop himself upright for now. 

Deuce hauled him into a sitting position, stuffing the pillow behind his back to keep him upright. 

“Thanks...” Yuu still felt a little out of it and had to ask, “So, what happened?” 

Epel came around the side of his bed, pushing Ace aside as he did so in order to hand Yuu a glass of orange-yellow liquid that the prefect eyed with suspicion until he smelled it. 

_‘Apple juice,’_ he realized, giving the other a smile and a quiet, “Thank you,” before taking a few small sips. 

“When you ask what happened... You mean _besides_ the whole falling into my arms part?” Ace asked with a smug expression that made Yuu want to pinch him. 

“Well, the first thing that happened after that was you dropping him,” Jack said without hesitation, “so...” 

“You dropped me!?” Yuu demanded. 

“Hey, I did my best ok? _You_ were heavy!” his friend told him, defensively. 

“Don’t make excuses,” the prefect shot back, “You just suck.” Shutting down any chance Ace had for a rebuttal, he moved the conversation along by asking, “So who _actually_ carried me here?” 

There was a moment of silence before the other first years slowly turned to look at Lilia, who was swinging his feet back and forth a bit with a smile. 

“Not that you were lacking in others who were willing to do so,” the third year said. “Rather, there was concern that some who offered had less than pure intentions. As I said earlier, if anything were to happen to you at the hands of one of the children here, there would have been _many_ problems.” 

“And my shoes and stockings?” Yuu asked. 

“Were taken off before you were moved here,” Lilia told him. 

“Rook-san did that,” Epel said. “He said it was to let your feet breathe, but y’know...” 

“It was because of that that we started arguing over who was safe to carry you!” Ace griped. “And then _Malleus Draconia_ came over and picked you up to hand you over to Lilia-san! How did you never tell us you knew that guy!?” 

“Uh, no,” the prefect shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I hadn’t met him before tonight. I could be wrong, but-” 

“No,” Jack interrupted. “He’s...” the Savanaclaw first year looked over at Lilia before choosing his words. “If you’d met him before, you would know for sure. That’s the kind of presence he has.” 

Yuu hummed in thought, drinking down more apple juice. Looking at his feet, he could see the bandages wrapped around his heels and thought, ‘I have work tomorrow.’ 

Another thought struck him and he shouted, “Oh right!” making everyone (other than Lilia) jump a bit. 

“Wh-what is it?” Deuce asked him. 

“The game!” Yuu said. “I remember the dances, so I’m pretty sure I can win!” 

There was a long silence before Ace burst out laughing. 

“I can’t believe you’re still thinking about that!” he said. 

“Well, he does hate to lose...” Deuce pointed out. 

“He’s stubborn as a mule,” Jack added. 

“This’s the same pal who danced til he passed out just to try ‘n win,” Epel agreed. 

“You guys are jerks!” Yuu cried, face turning red. 

“The game is over though!” Grim told him. 

Everyone went quiet again, with Ace and Deuce looking like they wanted to toss Grim out a window for a moment. 

“Yeah, I know,” his prefect replied. “That’s why it’s time for me to guess now, right?” 

“The headmaster said you’re disqualified since you had to leave the party though.” Grim spoke with complete innocence, just honestly relaying what he knew. But it seemed everyone else wished he hadn’t. 

“Oh,” Yuu said quietly. 

There was another long bout of silence before Yuu’s mouth opened again, but this time, only very creepy and annoyed giggles came out. 

“Izzat usual?” Epel asked, concerned. 

“He does it... occasionally,” Deuce confirmed. 

“Yeah,” Ace chimed in, “I got this theory that he’s killing people in his head when he does that.” 

“Oh, that makes sense then,” Epel said, seemingly losing all concern, understanding completely. 

“I could totally sell my soul to make that useless bird man suffer~” Yuu told them with a grin that looked more like a grimace. 

“You’re not allowed near that shady lounge without an escort!” Jack declared, worrying he might actually do it. 

Yuu collapsed back on the bed, the wind taken out of his sails. 

“I guess it was pretty fun regardless,” he admitted. “I’m still mad, though.” He went quiet for a moment before saying, “Hey, Deuce?” 

“Hm? What is it?” 

“Buy me a parfait sometime next week,” Yuu said, pouting up at him. 

“Buy you-? Why me!?” the other asked. 

“Cause you love me?” 

“Okay, he’s totally fine now,” Jack interrupted before Deuce could respond. “We should get him back to his dorm so he can rest in his own bed.” 

“I might have to ask you guys to help end the crazy ghost party that’s going on there,” Yuu told them. 

“The what now?” Ace asked. 

“Oh right!” Grim recalled. “The ghosts at the dorm said they’re throwing a party tonight! … Hrm~ What kind of food do you think they have at parties for ghosts, anyway?” 

“Nothin’s ever easy with ya’ll, is it?” Epel asked them. 

“Never,” Yuu confirmed. A fact he would complain about until the day his luck ran out and something eventually killed him. 

But honestly, he’d have it no other way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I enjoy writing character interactions so much, I have been toying with the idea of making a series of "epilogues" for this story, in which there is some romantic resolution of sorts between Yuu and the character whose epilogue it would be. Definitely let me know if any of you would be interested in that, and which characters you'd want to see it for.


End file.
